Always and Forever
by Mischievious Moogle
Summary: A young Matt finds a shy, frightened girl hiding in his bed on a hot summer day. They have been inseparable ever since. A MattxOC fanfiction
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note (though sometimes I wish I did)

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**"Always and Forever": Chp 1**

"Are you coming or what?"

"No. I think I'm going to stay inside today"

"Psh, suit yourself"

A little blonde boy raced out of Wammy's Orphanage and into a yard full of laughing and playing kids. The young red-head who stood behind turned at the door and walked back inside.

The inside of the orphanage was quieter during the day; especially during the warmer months. It was also cooler. There was no sun beaming down making everything warmer and the windows let in a gentle and refreshing breeze which was certainly welcome.

Only a few children remained indoors during the summer days. Everyone else took advantage of the beautiful sunny weather and unleashed their excess energy with kick ball games and games of hide and seek. Matt, a little red-haired boy, loved staying inside. Not only did he love the peace, but he loved the silence required to concentrate on his video games.

Matt sat on the ground in one of the playrooms, quietly ticking away on the buttons of his handheld game. Another child was in the room with him, but he was minding his own business on the other side of the room. Matt thought the child was a bit peculiar by the way he kept solving the same blank puzzle and emptying it out only to do it over. It was boring; nothing like his video game where something new happens every time he finishes one of its puzzles.

He sat underneath one of the open windows, enjoying the coolness it let into the room. However, it also let the shouts and laughter of the children playing outside in. It was not as quiet as he thought it would be, so he stood up and left the room, not once taking his eyes off of his game. He used one hand to push his little blue and silver goggles out of his green eyes as he made his way to the boy's bedroom.

Matt hopped up onto his bed and nearly fell off when he heard a small, but audible squeak.

'That doesn't sound like any toy' he thought to himself.

The red-head pulled back the sheets on his unmade bed and uncovered a small, curly-haired young girl. She was shyly curled up in a tight ball on his bed, clutching the other half of the sheets in her little hands. Her small, thin body tensed up once her hiding spot was revealed. Her position reminded him a lot of a turtle.

Matt simply stared at her until she decided to peek out from the ball. He did not question why she was there or what she was hiding from. He was more interested in what she was doing. Was she playing a prank? Was she planning to steal something from one of the boys?

The girl shyly peeked out and swiftly hid again once she caught his gaze. Matt decided he no longer cared; she was not doing much anyway. He sat back on the bed beside her and continued to play.

The girl was utterly baffled by his actions. Why did he ignore her? Why did he not just kick her out? Or at least question her? It was his bed after all and she was a girl; she was not allowed in the boys' room. She knew this fact, yet she was there anyway. It was the only place she could go and the other girls could not find her.

She picked up the blanket that Matt snatched off of her and pulled it back over herself again.

"I'm hiding..." the girl said after a few minutes of nothing but the sound of the game's button clicking.

However, the clicking did not stop.

"From what?" Matt asked.

"Them...The other girls..."

"Why?"

The girl was quiet for a bit.

"...They make fun of me...They're always laughing..."

She did not know why, but she had a strong feeling that she could trust this boy. Like he would not judge her or tease her like the other orphans did. He made her feel safe, but she was not sure how or why. She has not seen him around before.

'Maybe he is one of the new kids...' she thought to herself.

Matt stopped playing for a bit and faced the ball of blankets.

"My name is Matt. What's yours?"

"...I'm Cassidy..." she said.

The warmth and confidence in her voice was rising and he noticed it, however small it was, it was there. He smiled just a bit and tugged at the sheets.

"Could you come out from under there? I feel like I'm having a conversation with my bed"

Cassidy contemplated this for a while, then decided it was safe enough to come out. She pulled the sheets back, but only enough to reveal her head. She had long dark curly hair, a few freckles on her rosy cheeks, and thick, black glasses resting on her cute little nose in front of her big violet eyes. The glasses were fairly low, so she pushed them up, only to have them slide back down again.

Matt looked her over quietly and tried to figure out why she was getting picked on. She looked a bit weak in his opinion, so that was probably why the others often took advantage of her. But what he did not know yet was that Cassidy was fortieth in line to succeed L, which made some of the arrogant children (mostly the other girls) ahead of her act as if she was lesser than them. They bossed her around, laughed when she tried to speak, and roughed her up a bit or made things tougher for her when she tried to defend herself.

He stared at her without saying anything, which made Cassidy feel even more insecure than she already was.

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed in the hallway, causing the two orphans to jump up in surprise.

"Hey, Matt! We need one more guy for our kick ball game! Are you in or out?"

The blonde boy was back again and he had a huge red ball in his arms. He froze once he saw Cassidy and stared, making her feel even more uncomfortable. Matt may not have said anything about her being in there, but she was unsure about this new kid. She pulled the blanket over herself again to hide, but it was too late. He already saw her and she knew it.

"It's Cassidy" he said with a smirk. "I almost didn't recognize you without all the tears and crying"

Matt frowned. It looked like the girls were not the only ones who picked on her.

"What are you doing in the boy's room, Cassidy?" he taunted. "Isn't it for boys?"

"I could ask you the very same thing!" Cassidy snapped back from under the covers.

She knew how to defend herself; she just hated confrontation. But if the situation called for it, Cassidy rose to the occasion.

The boy's smirk instantly turned into a scowl. He threw the ball aside in anger and violently pulled at the sheets.

"Get out from under there, four eyes!" he growled.

Cassidy kept a tight grip on her soft shield, desperate to stay hidden.

"Leave her alone, Mello. She's not doing anything wrong" Matt said.

"Yes she is" Mello answered, still pulling the sheets. "She's not supposed to be in here. She's a girl! And I outrank her, so she's supposed to do what I tell her to! She has to listen to me or I'm telling Roger she's in here!"

Cassidy then released her grip on the sheets, causing Mello to fall backwards onto the ground and become buried under the blankets. She sat up on her little knees and clutched a small clawed pink bear plush to her chest.

"I don't care about stupid ranks! Go ahead! Tell Roger!" she cried. "You better leave me alone, or I'll...I'll..."

"Or you'll what?" he sneered, sitting up on the floor. "Cry on me?"

Cassidy growled, bashed Mello in the head with her bear, and ran out of the room, sobbing.

Mello scoffed and stood up.

"Like that hurt. What a wimp"

Matt frowned. He felt sorry for Cassidy.

"So are we going to play kick ball or what?"

"I'll pass" Matt answered.

Mello mumbled to himself, picked up his red ball, and left.

Matt continued to sit in silence and thought to himself. He knew that was not the last he has seen of Cassidy.

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A/N: Hello, all! I've taken a little break from writing my Final Fantasy fanfiction to write this up, but I should be back updating it really soon. I worked very hard on this, so I hope everybody likes it! Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**"Always and Forever": Chp 2**

The next day, Matt decided to stay in the bedroom instead of going out to play with the other boys. And as he expected, Cassidy rushed into the room with her bear to hide again. She stopped once she saw him and stood in the doorway.

Matt knew she was going to be back, despite the previous day's events. He may not have been as smart as Mello or Near, but he was excellent at reading people.

He was sitting at the foot of his bed with his feet dangling over the edge and his goggles over his eyes while playing his handheld game.

Cassidy held her plush protectively and watched him. He pat the empty space on the bed beside him; a sign for her to take a seat. She smiled and climbed up onto his bed.

Matt continued his game and Cassidy watched while hugging her little pink bear.

"...Hi" she said quietly.

"Hey" he answered.

"U-Um..."

"Cassidy, right?"

She nodded, hugging her bear tightly.

"Do you like games, Cassidy? Video games, I mean"

"Y-Yes. I like them a lot"

"Wait a minute...Wouldn't your friends be angry that you're in here playing with me instead of out there with them?" he asked without taking his eyes off of his game.

Cassidy looked down and traced the blood marks sewn around her stuffed bear's mouth quietly. "...No...They won't care"

"I see. Do you have a game of your own? Maybe we could play together"

"They br- I...I lost mine" she said quickly.

He pushed the goggles up onto his forehead and held out his game. "Do you want to try mine out?"

She smiled and took it from him. "Yes"

Things continued in this way for a long time. Every day Matt would wait in his room on his bed and every day Cassidy would rush inside, carrying her bear in her arms. They would be together, playing games and talking to each other about whatever they wanted to until lunch time.

Matt's favorite game to play was Legend of Zelda. He loved the action, adventure, and strategy the game required. Cassidy loved watching him play it as well. Her favorite part of the game was the puzzles. She loved working together with Matt to solve whatever puzzle came at them to move to the next level or to unlock some sort of hidden treasure or weapon.

They both knew that staying in the boy's bedroom together was too risky, so after a few days, they moved to the playroom, and soon, they went anywhere they could go and be together peacefully; a place without any sort of commotion.

When they were together, Cassidy felt happier. Nobody made fun of her as much and if they did, Matt stood up for her. In return, she showed Matt all of the secret passages to the little known quiet places in the orphanage and would take him there all the time to get away from everyone.

Mello found out about this little arrangement and disagreed with it at first. He teased and bullied Cassidy to push her away, but he slowed down once Matt began to get angry and defend her, so he soon got used to her following Matt around and left her alone. He figured that if Matt had taken a liking to her, she could not be all that bad.

Matt did not mind her following him. In fact, he enjoyed her company. She was not noisy or over talkative like the other girls. She just sat beside him and peacefully watched him play his games without doing much else except cuddle her bear. Sometimes she would talk to him about his games, which made him even happier. He was especially happy that one Christmas where Cassidy received another handheld video game system of her own. He officially had a video game partner.

When Mello hung out with them, him and Cassidy would talk and slowly, they sort of got along. He still picked on Cassidy sometimes (because it was in his nature, after all), but he tried not to take it too far. However, they still fought, whether it be verbal or physical. Mello never struck her, but that never stopped her from pummeling him with her bear whenever he got her upset.

Cassidy was closer to Matt than she was with Mello. There was something about the little red-headed gamer that made her feel safe; like he accepted her for who she was. They had grown extremely close over the past two years and were nearly inseparable.

One day, Cassidy snuck some of the snacks that were supposed to be locked away in the kitchen to an empty playroom to share with Matt and Mello.

"How did you get these?" Mello asked, munching on a chocolate bar.

Cassidy was seated on the ground, leaning against Matt, who was also sitting and quietly enjoying a lollipop, as she played with oreo cookies in her hands.

"Easy. I opened the lock" she stated simply.

"But Roger doesn't use the normal 'lock and key' type of lock, so it's not like you could have picked it. He uses the kind of lock that needs a series of codes punched into it to open. If it's the wrong code, an alarm goes off. How did you get the codes?"

The curly-haired girl pulled out a huge sheet of paper and scribbled down a bunch of mathematical equations which would have looked like a mess of numbers, letters, and strange symbols to a normal person, but were, in fact, complicated mathematical formulas no average child her age would have known. She started writing more under the equations and explained her actions as she wrote.

Mello listened closely as Cassidy spoke while Matt just sat back and played his game.

After filling around three pages with numbers and letters, front and back, Cassidy sat up and smiled, pushing her glasses up, just to have them slip back down.

"And that's how I figured it out" she declared proudly. "It's simple, really"

Mello looked astonished. "You must have really wanted those sweets"

Cassidy frowned and hugged her bear tightly.

"Not really...I just had a lot of time on my hands..." she mumbled.

Since Cassidy was actually the fortieth in line to succeed L, there were thirty-nine other orphans that were more intelligent and qualified to follow in L's footsteps than she was. Not as much was expected from her, so she did not need to work as hard and as often as the others.

Breaking into the snack closet for her two friends was not the only time she broke into somewhere or something. She would sometimes sneak and break into the boy's bedroom at night as well, to sleep beside Matt when she felt lonely or if she had a nightmare.

Matt did not mind when she did this, either. He was happy he could comfort her because, though he would never admit it, he felt lonely at times, too. Mello's bed was set up beside his and they spoke to each other at night, but he felt better when he had somebody warm curled up beside him. That way he knew he was not alone.

Cassidy was also able to sneak back into the girls' bedroom before anybody woke up for the day without making any noises at all, so Matt never really worried about her getting caught.

Roger and the other caretakers noticed her little feats, however. Cassidy was only eight years old, after all. She was not a professional, though it seemed that way since it was rare to find any evidence of her break-ins. They still thought she was pretty special, so they brought it all to L's attention.

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A/N: Thank you so much to the people who reviewed/subscribed! Seeing that makes me so happy! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well. Please continue to review!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Always and Forever": Chp 3**

One snowy night, Cassidy snuck into the boys' bedroom for the umpteenth time and crawled into Matt's bed as she did many times before. He slowly woke up and instantly knew it was her. The way she crawled in beside him and her scent tipped him off. She was light, so the bed moved only slightly when she crawled in. Since she was sneaking, she made sure to limit movement so nobody would notice her breaking the rules if they were still awake. He also knew it was her because she smelled sweet, like the cookies she usually snuck out of the kitchen.

Matt pulled the sheets back so she could easily lay down beside him. She did just that and pulled the blankets over the two of them. Something was different about her and Matt noticed. She was hugging his arm tighter than usual and crying softly into his chest. He gently pushed the hair out of her face and tried to see her through the darkness. The soft moonlight shining through the window lit up the room enough to show that her eyes were red and puffy from her tears and her nose was a soft hue of red. It was evident that she had been crying for quite some time. Matt pulled her closer and hugged her as he always did when she had a nightmare.

"Matt..." she whispered through her sobs.

He hummed gently in response, stroking her curly hair to comfort her. He liked how soft her hair always was.

"...I...I..."

He hugged her tighter and closed his eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm here, so you don't have to be scared" he said softly. "I'll protect you"

Those words made her cry even harder. Matt tried to quiet her down by softly shushing her and wiping the tears off of her cheeks. She was beginning to get a little loud and that made Mello move a bit in his bed. Mello knew that Cassidy would sneak in to sleep next to Matt and he did not care. What he did have a problem with was when people woke him up in the middle of the night. That made him even grumpier than he usually was, which was not a pretty sight. Matt did not want to risk having Cassidy accidentally wake Mello up; he could blow their cover without meaning to.

When he saw his methods to calm her were not working, he reached under his pillow and pulled out his handheld. He slipped in his Legend of Zelda game and handed it to her.

"Would you like to play this, Cassidy?"

Cassidy sniffled and looked quietly at the game.

"...I want to watch you play, Matty. You're really good..."

Matt smiled a bit and began to play. Cassidy watched intently, watching every move the characters made to defeat their enemies and escape traps. She was completely absorbed in the game, just as she always was when Matt played it.

"...Matt?" Cassidy whispered.

"Hm?"

"I...Do you...Do you love me?"

Matt paused in shock."W-What?"

"Do you love me?"

He did not know what to tell her. Did he love her? He was always happy when he was around her and sometimes he could not wait to see her, but he felt the same way about Mello. However, the feeling for Cassidy was slightly different. He did not like her more than he liked Mello; it was just...different. Did he have a...what did the other children call it...a crush?

'No...It can't be' he thought to himself. 'They're my best friends. I just like being around them, that's all. I don't have a crush'

"O-Of course I do, Cassidy. You and Mello are my best friends. I love you both. Just don't go and tell him I said that. I would never hear the end of it"

Cassidy smiled through her tears. "Really?"

"Yes"

"I...I love you too, Matt. I'll love you always and forever, no matter what. You're my best friend. Will you love me for that long, too?"

"...Yeah"

Cassidy smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. Matt turned a soft pink color and smiled. He thought she could not see it because the room was dark, but seemed to have forgotten about the light from the handheld game. But regardless if it was on or not, Cassidy knew.

It was late at night, so the game did not last long. After about only ten minutes, Matt grew tired and slowly shut off the game. Cassidy was tired as well. She wrapped her arms around his middle and lay her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He had fallen asleep before her, so the beat was slow and steady. The rhythm was slow and peaceful. Cassidy listened to it for what seemed like an eternity and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Cassidy woke up when the sun was beginning to rise. She sat up slowly, making sure not to move too fast and accidentally wake Matt up. He was snoring softly, smiling at whatever was going on in his head when he slept. Seeing his serene smile made her smile as well. She softly touched his cheek and kissed his forehead before she left.

"...Goodbye, Matt..."

And with that, she snuck back to the girls' bedroom before anybody noticed she was missing.

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A/N: Thank you guys sooooooo much for the subscriptions/reviews/author watches! I'm so happy you all love my story! Please continue to read and review!!


	4. Chapter 4

**"Always and Forever": Chp 4**

Later that morning, Matt was sitting on his bed in the boys' bedroom, waiting for Cassidy to come in while playing his little video games. He perked up when he heard footsteps heading for the room, but he was slightly disappointed when he saw his little blonde friend, Mello, walk inside instead of Cassidy.

"Hey, Matt"

"Hey"

"So, where are we going today?"

"I want to go to the attic again today, but I want to wait for Cassidy first"

Mello frowned. "Don't you know? Cassidy is gone"

Matt nearly dropped his handheld. He stood up and pushed the goggles out of his eyes.

"...What? What do you mean? Where did she go?"

"Somebody came to pick her up today. L had someone come and take her early this morning"

The red-head was struck speechless. Someone had taken Cassidy away?

"Who told you this?"

"...I heard Roger talking to Cassidy last week. He told her that he knew about her sneaking around and breaking into locked rooms, but wasn't upset. He was impressed and wanted to improve her skills, so he was going to have her sent away to study under this American woman. I think her name was Wedy..."

Matt dropped his game onto the floor, grabbed Mello roughly by his collar, and pulled him close. His face was mixed with the emotions of anger, confusion, and sadness.

"How come she never told me? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Mello pushed back on Matt's hands, trying to loosen his grip.

"She made me promise not to say anything to you. She didn't want you to worry! She didn't want you to be sad!" Mello said.

"How do you think I feel right now?!" Matt roared.

Matt dropped Mello and ran out of the room. He raced all the way to the girls' bedroom and looked around for any sign of Cassidy, but all he found was on of the caretakers clearing one of the beds of its sheets and blankets.

He hated both Cassidy and Mello. He hated them for not telling him anything about Cassidy leaving the orphanage. He hated them for keeping that secret from him. He hated them for acting like everything was fine when it really was not.

He said he hated them, but he never did; he couldn't. He liked Cassidy a lot and now she was gone. He thought they would be together forever, but now he knows he was just being naive. He never thought that she would be taken away from the orphanage so soon; not ever.

Matt could not stop the hot tears from rolling down his cheeks. He dropped onto his hands and knees and just let the tears flow as he cried. Mello walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Matt...I'm sure we'll see her again someday..."

"I miss her, Mello...Why didn't she tell me anything...?"

"I miss her, too. As for why she didn't say anything...I don't know... But what I do know is that she wouldn't want you to sit here crying over her. She would want you to be your normal happier self. Come on. Let's go and play a game or something"

The red-head sat up on his knees and wiped his face. Mello helped him up and together they quietly left the room.

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A/N: Another chapter done! I'm sorry it's so short. To make up for it, I'll upload the next chapter tomorrow! I'm very grateful for every comment! Thank you guys so much! Please continue to review!!


	5. Chapter 5

**"Always and Forever": Chp 5**

Nine years have passed since that day. Matt was sitting comfortably on an old beat-up couch in an apartment in America. Mello was standing across the room from him, watching something outside from the window.

Matt was playing his handheld game, as usual, while surrounded by all sorts of monitors playing scenes of a little blonde Japanese woman flailing about in her room, doing who knows what. He was not interested in the monitors. That was all the woman really did; nothing else, and it bored him. It reminded him a lot of watching the pale kid in the orphanage do the same puzzle over and over.

"Matt, are you keeping an eye on those monitors?" Mello asked.

"Mm hm" Matt lied.

Mello suddenly snatched Matt's game out of his hands, eliciting a gasp from the striped red-head. The blonde looked at the game and scoffed.

"Legend of Zelda? How many times do you have to play that game before you get tired of it? You've had this game for years. Get over it already and do what I ask of you!"

Matt grabbed it back, put a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it.

"I happen to like this game a lot. Besides, I haven't played it for years and I just remembered I had it, so I haven't played it as often as you think"

Mello scoffed and dropped onto an old, worn out armchair that was beside the couch. He took out a big chocolate bar and began munching on it while listening to something on a pair of headphones.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Both Mello and Matt froze and looked at the door with suspicion. They had been hiding from Kira followers, the police, and rival mafia members, so their suspicion was not in vain.

Matt grabbed a gun and took his cigarette out of his mouth. He slowly made his way to the door, unlocked it quietly, and gently turned the doorknob. Mello was behind him, also wielding a gun and keeping it pointed at the door in case anybody just sprang in and attacked.

Matt whipped the door open and pointed his gun at anybody standing in the hallway, but it was empty. Nobody was standing there waiting for them. Both men exchanged confused looks. Mello turned around to go back to his seat, but Matt noticed something.

"Hey, Mello. Somebody left us a note"

A little white envelope was taped to the door near the door number. Matt took it down and closed the door with his foot as he turned to walk back to the couch.

"Open it" Mello said impatiently, taking another bite of chocolate. He did not like being scared like that, so whoever left the note was in trouble.

The red-head opened the envelope and took out the paper inside. The paper was a soft lavender color and had feminine cursive handwriting all over it.

"What's it say?"

"It's a date...and an address..." Matt answered.

Mello took the paper from him and read it over himself. "It's tomorrow's date and the address is one of an abandoned building on the other side of town. It's obviously a trap"

He tossed the paper aside and went back to listening to whatever he was listening to.

Matt knew there was something more to the note; there had to be. It was too obvious if it was some sort of trap. If Mello was right, they would have been tricked or forced into going instead of coming straight out and being asked to go. It was too strange.

Matt picked the paper up and looked it over for a long time. It read the same thing over and over, no matter how he looked at it. He sighed and tossed it to the side, frustrated. Why could he not figure out how to prove for sure it was not a trap? His gut feeling was not enough to convince Mello to go and check the place out with him. He needed something more solid to base his argument on...

He gasped when he realized that he did not check the envelope for anything further than the note. He picked the envelope up from the ground and shook it to empty anything else it held out. A small, nearly unnoticeable slip of paper floated down, swaying as it danced to the floor. Matt caught it before it hit the ground and looked it over.

"Hey, Mello. It's a note from Near...He says he has something we may want and he wants us to pick it up at that location..."

Mello bit down on his chocolate extra hard in anger, making loud crunching sounds. He snatched the note from Matt and read it for himself.

"I should have known that girly writing was his" he spat, crumpling the paper.

"Should we go?"

Mello thought to himself for a while. He was angry that Near thought he needed help from him, but he was curious about what he had to offer. "I'll go. You need to stay behind and watch Amane. No playing games this time!"

Matt nodded obediently and took his seat. He had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day.

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A/N: Done, as promised! Finally, we get into the main DN storyline! I did not count the years and stuff like that, so if things are off, I apologize. I am not trying to be specific or anything with this story. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for all of the reviews!! Please continue to send them in!!


	6. Chapter 6

**"Always and Forever": Chp 6**

Mello hopped onto his motorcycle and put on his helmet. He looked over the address one last time and safely put the paper in his jacket pocket.

"I'll call you if anything comes up" he told Matt, who was standing by his side and smoking a cigarette.

"Be careful, Mello. If I don't hear from you in twenty four hours-"

"I know, I know. Don't worry about me. I'll be back"

And with that, Mello revved the engine and sped off into the distance. Matt watched until Mello turned the corner, then went back into the apartment. He worried about Mello. Mello was a bit reckless at times and would do anything to achieve his goal, even if it meant breaking the law, which got him into a lot of trouble.

'I'm sure Mello can take care of himself...' Matt thought, dropping down onto the couch.

He flipped the on switch to his handheld and soon was lost in a game.

Mello raced through the streets as he headed towards his destination. It had taken him around half an hour to get there and now the building was just ahead. It was in a deserted part of town, just as Mello thought. Nobody really lived there; there were only drug dealers and other people of that type hanging around doing business. Mello saw them hiding and working in the alleyways, but ignored them. He kept strong focus on his mission. Near was not going to get the better of him. He was going to come out number one.

The blonde reached the front of the building in no time. He took off his helmet, shook out his hair, and looked confidently at the building.

'Well...Here we go'

He kicked the door open and stepped inside.

"Anybody here?" he shouted.

Mello had a bored, but strong tone in his voice. He stood near the main door and took out a bar of chocolate to munch on as he looked around the main room curiously. Whatever Near asked him to go over there for was obviously not in that room since it was empty of everything, including lights. The only light in that room was the sunlight that shone through the broken, boarded up windows and front door, so it was rather dark.

He took a few steps forward, then whipped around to look behind him when he heard footsteps. They were not heavy footsteps, but rather light and quick, as if the person was trying to sneak up behind him. Nobody was there standing behind him, though.

Mello thought he was just hearing things, when suddenly a board from the ceiling crashed down in front of him. He jumped back and pointed his gun up from where the board fell.

"No more games! Show yourself right now!" he roared.

Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind. They put an arm around his neck and held his hands behind his back firmly and twisted his wrists in a way to ensure he could not move.

"It's good to see you again, Mello" a voice whispered into his ear. "My, how you've grown"

The whisper sent shivers up his spine. Mello violently kicked the attacker away and a fight ensued. The attacker pounced onto him and they fell over. The person tried to wrestle the gun out of his hand, but Mello kneed the person in the groin and harshly rolled them off of him. He jumped up and pointed his gun and just as he was about to pull the trigger, he froze.

The attacker had been a woman. She was crouched down on the ground and looking up at him. She had long blonde hair, a tall, thin body, and was dressed in tight black clothing with a long silky red scarf, like some sort of ninja. But only one thing about her stopped Mello in his tracks; her eyes. Her soft violet eyes looked up at him innocently. Something was very familiar about those eyes.

"Mello...It's me..."

Back at the apartment, Matt's phone rang. He pressed paused on his game and swiftly answered it.

"Mello?"

"I'm out front, Matt. Open the door" Click.

Matt looked at his phone, a bit confused. Mello only asked him to open the door for him once before, but that was a long time ago. It was back when he blew up his hideout and he came back with that wound on his face...

Mat sprang off of the couch and raced for the door, jumping over the monitors and other various spying equipment on the ground. He landed not so gracefully on the other side and swung the front door open.

"Matty!"

A young woman pounced Matt, knocking him onto the floor without giving him a chance to even see who she was or what she looked like. She wrapped her thin, but fit arms around him and hugged him tightly. He just sat there in shock.

Mello walked in behind her and smirked. He was just fine, except for a few rips in his jacket.

Matt looked down at the woman hugging him, confused. He did not remember having any blonde female friends that would be this happy to see him.

The woman sat on her knees in front of him and smiled.

"Matt? Don't you remember? It's me!"

She stood up and pulled her wig off to reveal short, dark curly hair which ended just before her shoulders. She wiped her face with the back of her right hand and uncovered the freckles hiding underneath the makeup on her rosy cheeks.

Matt gasped with realization.

Standing before him was a grown-up Cassidy.

* * *

A/N: Done! Thank you all for the comments!! I really, really appreciate them! I hope everybody enjoyed reading this chapter! Please continue to review!!


	7. Chapter 7

**"Always and Forever": Chp 7**

Cassidy had grown a lot since Matt has last seen her. She was a lot taller now; just as tall as he was. She was wearing a tight dark leather outfit which clung to her skin, revealing the curves on her womanly body. She no longer wore her thick black glasses. A pair of silver and blue goggles sat on the top of her head, almost hidden in the curls of her short black hair.

She pulled down the red scarf from around her neck with her long, thin fingers and clutched it tightly with both her hands. Tears filled her violet eyes and rolled down her soft, pale cheeks.

"Matt...I missed you...I'm sorry..."

Matt was speechless. He always thought that he would have a million things to tell her when and if he ever saw her again, yet he was struck silent. He wanted to tell her everything he felt, everything he went through, yet he said nothing.

He finally decided to be angry.

"Cassidy, why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" he said firmly.

Cassidy frowned. "I didn't want you to be sad...I didn't want to worry you..."

"How do you think I felt when I found out, huh?"

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't-"

Matt cut her off by embracing her tightly. She was confused. Was he not just upset with her? Was he not just scolding her for not informing him of her departure from the orphanage?

"I missed you so much..." he whispered.

"I'm happy to be back" she answered, smiling and hugging him back. "You guys have grown so much. You're so...big, now. I've probably missed a lot..."

"Yeah. Heartwarming. It brings a tear to my eye" Mello said sarcastically. "Now, if you guys are done, we have a Kira to catch. I'm not letting Near get ahead of me"

Cassidy let go of Matt and blushed. "Y-Yessir! Awaiting orders, boss!" she said happily.

"Wait a moment" Matt said. "How did you find us, Cassidy? And what did Near have to give us?"

"Near helped me out a lot" Cassidy said shyly. "He helped me find you guys. You see, I was working under L with Wedy on the Kira case for a while. Before he died..."

Mello took a seat in his armchair and Cassidy sat beside Matt on the couch.

"I was really young, but Wedy taught me well. She taught me how to break into a lot of modern security systems with ease. And I was small, too, so it was a piece of cake to sneak into houses through small, unguarded openings. She also taught me how to disguise myself while I did any spy work. I'm not supposed to be recognized by anybody while I was working, hence why I was disguised when I ambushed you, Mello. Anyway, I remember tagging along with Wedy to sneak into these old, rich guys' house back then. I worked with her a lot, but that was my first real field mission. One of them was accused of being one of the Kiras"

Matt listened carefully along with Mello, who was patiently licking a bar of chocolate.

"It was fun to do those kinds of things with Wedy. It gave me such a...thrill. I mean, breaking into the snack closet was fun, but busting into some rich guy's house who had the latest in security and everything was just...a rush. I love it!"

"So L was right to send you to be Wedy's student" Mello said.

Cassidy nodded. "Yes, L was right, as always. But that doesn't mean I didn't miss you guys. I thought about you two every single day...The first few weeks were really hard..."

"You still haven't told us what Near had to do with this" Mello interrupted, biting the melted part of the chocolate bar off.

"Oh! S-Sorry...Um, so after Wedy and L died, I didn't know what to do with myself. I decided to go back to Wammy's to see you guys, but I was told that you two had left... Near was going to look for Kira and finish what L started, so I volunteered to work with him since I thought it would lead me to you guys somehow. It took him a while, but he agreed after I proved to him that I would be very useful. A little while later, he told me that Mello had come by to get his photo back! I was so excited! I asked Near about you, Mello, and he told me you were in trouble with the law and Matt was with you...Near was able to tell I really worried about you two, so he set up our little meeting!"

"Wait a minute" Mello said. "If you were so helpful to Near, why did he just give you up like that? Wouldn't it have been more beneficial for him if he kept you?"

Cassidy shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm glad he did let me work with you guys instead! I'm with you two again! Just like old times! Isn't that great?"

"I guess you weren't as helpful as he thought you would be to just give you up like that" the blonde said with a scoff. "If you weren't good enough for Near, then why should we have you?"

"Mello" Matt said firmly. "That's not-"

Cassidy growled. "Insensitive blonde idiot!" she snapped. "I missed you guys very much! I'm very happy I had the chance come back and see you again after so long! Didn't you miss me?!"

"We don't need a failure" he retorted.

Cassidy suddenly stood up and punched Mello square in the jaw, sending him tumbling off of his seat.

"Take that back, jerk!"

Mello crashed into a nearby wall and collapsed onto the ground. He rubbed his cheek and groaned. Matt stared in shock.

"Ugh...You hit like a man...That fist of yours really packs a wallop..."

"It should!" she snapped. "Now, call me a failure again and you'll lose your ability to breed!"

"Ouch" Matt said.

The blonde stood up, dusted himself off, and smirked. "You're a lot different than the shy, scared little damsel in distress I once knew."

"That's right! I'm smarter now and I know many different forms of martial arts. I'm not weak and I have a lot more confidence. Nobody is going to push me around any more. I can defend myself" she smiled and winked at Matt.

Matt smiled back. "I think you'll be a good addition to the team"

Mello sighed angrily in defeat. "...Fine. Cassidy can join the team"

Cassidy cheered and hugged both Matt and Mello tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You won't regret it! I'll work as hard as I can!!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." the blonde mumbled. "Don't make me regret it"

Cassidy looked at the clock hanging on the wall and gasped.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, but I have to start heading back home now. Near told me to call him by a certain time to make sure I've met up with you guys safely or he'd send people out to check up on me. Here's my phone number and address. You can come visit or call me at any time! I'll help with the Kira case any way I can. If you need me to do anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to call, okay? Together we can bring Kira down and avenge L!"

"Why can't you call Near on your cell phone?" Mello asked.

"Near didn't think it would be safe. He said something about me being irresponsible and losing the phone...So he gave me a personal phone line to him from my house!"

Cassidy said her goodbyes to Matt and Mello by giving them each a kiss on the forehead.

"I hope to see you guys again really soon!"

* * *

A/N: One more chapter posted! I am SOOOOO grateful for every one of those kind comments you guys write to me. They make me so happy! I love you guys so much!! Thank you for reading my story! Please continue to review!


	8. Chapter 8

**"Always and Forever": Chp 8**

Two days later, Matt was left behind in the apartment to watch Misa on the monitors again while Mello did some outside investigating. He was playing a game on his handheld, bored as usual. Misa never did anything suspicious. She was very boring to watch, especially since he had to watch her do the same things every day. The room was silent, except for the soft clicking of the game's buttons.

The red-head sighed and put his feet up on the coffee table, something he was often scolded for when he was at Wammy's; for that and for sneaking cigarettes.

'But I'm not there anymore, am I?' he smirked.

When he put his feet up on the table, a slip of paper floated down to the ground. He glanced down at it, wondering what it was. He lifted up his goggles and read the words scribbled onto it.

"Cassidy gave us her address...Maybe I should go by for a visit today. It's not like I'm doing anything, anyway. I'm sure Mello wouldn't mind. I'll just record Misa and watch the tapes later"

Matt stood up, threw his vest on, and left the apartment.

Apparently, Cassidy did not live that far away; it was only a couple of miles away from the apartment he and Mello lived in. It was a very busy neighborhood, but everybody was in such a rush and so preoccupied with themselves, nobody really acknowledged anybody else. Even though it was full of so many people, it was a lonely place.

Matt looked at the address, then at the building. He scratched his head then looked at the address again to make sure he had the right place.

'...She lives in some sort of gym?'

The building he stood in front of looked nothing like he expected. It was not an apartment building or a house; it was some sort of martial arts school. Matt looked around curiously.

'Did she give me the wrong address?'

He looked inside the school through the huge glass windows, hoping to find some sort of clue when his wishes were suddenly granted.

Cassidy was standing at the head of the room, standing on top of a bright blue mat, just like the people in front of her. She was wearing a clean white martial arts uniform with a black belt around her waist. Her curly black hair was tied back and away from her face with her goggles nowhere in sight. She actually looked really cute that way in Matt's opinion. From where she was standing, Matt guessed she was probably doing some sort of demonstration. He decided to stand by and watch.

"Okay, guys! Now, I'm going to show you all how to defend yourself when you're attacked from behind. I'm going to need a volunteer...", said Cassidy.

She looked around the room full of adults in uniforms just like hers, but with different colored belts, and decided to choose a tall, well-built man. He stepped behind her and waited for further instructions.

"Now, when I say go, you grab me from behind and try to toss me to the ground, okay? I'll handle the rest. Don't hold back!"

The man nodded obediently and the class watched intently.

"Ready? Go!"

He grabbed and tried his hardest to pick her up and toss her, but Cassidy was keeping her ground. When she looked up, she spotted Matt watching her in the window.

'W-What is he doing here?!' she thought.

Suddenly, the man picked Cassidy up and lifted her high up into the air. The class gasped in shock and the man smirked. Cassidy instantly focused back on what she was doing and managed to bring herself down and slammed the man hard onto his back. Matt cringed and the class cheered.

"You see? Even if things look bad, never give up and try your hardest! You could end up turning the tables" Cassidy instructed.

"Yes, sensei!" the class said in unison.

"Sadly, time is up. I'll see you all next class! Good work today!"

As the class was leaving, Matt walked in.

"That was pretty good, Cassidy" he said. "I had no idea you were so strong"

Cassidy blushed and laughed nervously. "H-How did you know I would be here?"

"What do you mean? You gave me the address, remember?"

She smacked her forehead. "Ugh! I did it again! I gave you the wrong address...I hate when I do that!"

Matt looked confused.

"I-I've been here so long, I sometimes accidentally confuse my apartment address with this one..."

"I see. I guess I was lucky to find you here, then"

"But I don't live too far from here! I live in the apartment building across the way. You could come over if you'd like! How about it?"

Matt thought about it for a bit. Mello has not called him yet, so that meant he was busy with his work elsewhere. He was safe to explore a bit for now. "Sure"

"Yay! I'll be right back! I have to change out of this and wash up. I'm all sweaty...and I'm pretty sure that big guy hasn't bathed in a while. Ugh! He smelled like a foot!"

Matt laughed. "I'll be waiting for you outside"

"Okay!"

A little while later, Cassidy met Matt outside of the school and together they raced back to her apartment. Cassidy was very excited and nearly dragged poor Matt by his arm the entire way there. He did not complain, however; he was excited as well.

Cassidy lived on the fifteenth floor of a quiet, peaceful apartment building, which was the opposite of the feeling given from of the streets. The people that lived there were very friendly and almost everybody they encountered on the way to her apartment knew Cassidy.

"You have a lot of friends here" Matt said, rubbing his shoulder as Cassidy released him in front of her apartment door.

"Aw, everyone's just so nice here because they're all elderly and lonely... And they really know me through my sensei. Oh! And before I open this door, I have to warn you about Max. He is kind of strange around new people, so please be careful" Cassidy said, fidgeting with her keys.

"Max?" Matt asked, a little harsher than he meant to. He suddenly became jealous at the thought of Cassidy living with another man.

'Does Cassidy live with a guy? Her boyfriend?' he thought.

"Um...yeah! Max is really a sweetie! I'm sure you two will be friends in no time!" She was slightly thrown off by Matt's sudden change in attitude. She could have sworn she heard jealousy in his tone, but she was unsure. She decided she was hearing things; it was just a mistake and there was no use looking any more into it.

Cassidy opened the door and spread her arms for a hug. "I'm home! C'mere, Max!"

When the door swung open, a huge black animal was seated near the doorway, sitting in a pile of lacy undergarments. It sat up and looked at Cassidy with a pair of pink panties hanging from its mouth. The dog barked and excitedly ran over to his master, dragging some other unmentionable pieces of clothing behind him on his tail and hind legs.

Cassidy instantly shut the door, her face as red as a beet and her cheeks burning. Matt was also a little red, but tried to hide it by looking away and pretending to have a cough.

"E-E-Excuse me" she stuttered.

She slid inside her apartment, shutting the door swiftly behind her.

"BAD DOG!!" Cassidy roared from inside. "YOU DON'T GO THROUGH MOMMY'S LAUNDRY!! BAD! BAD! BAD!!"

Matt heard a dog whine loudly and run away to some other room. He was relieved that Max was a dog and not a person, though he was confused about why he became so jealous.

'It's not like I'm interested in her or anything' he thought to himself. 'Cassidy's free to be with who she likes. We're just friends'

Matt sighed and leaned against the wall, thinking to himself as he lit a cigarette. He then began to think about what he saw when they arrived and soon imagined a few things that made his face turn as red as his hair. He shook his head furiously and put a hand to his forehead.

'Why am I thinking about her that way? She's my best friend! Nothing more!'

A few minutes later, Cassidy opened the door, still a bit red in the face.

"I'm so sorry about that. Max is such a mischievous dog...C-Come on in!"

Matt took off his boots near the doorway, as Cassidy instructed, and walked in.

Her apartment was definitely a woman's apartment. It was very neat and organized and it smelled sweet, like strawberries. Many colorful paintings hung on the powdery pink walls and only squeaky dog toys were scattered around the clean bare wood floor.

Cassidy led Matt into the living room and seated him on probably the most comfortable couch he has ever sat on in his life. It almost beat the couch he had back at his apartment, but not by much. His may have been an old, used couch ready to rip apart at any moment, but it was his old, worn out couch.

Cassidy was about to take a seat beside him, but she stopped herself.

"I should get us something to drink! I'll be right back!!"

She rushed into the kitchen to get something, nearly tripping over a squeaky toy on her way and left Matt alone to explore. He looked curiously around the place, trying to find some more clues about this older Cassidy. She was not much different from the way she was when she was a child. She still loved video games and the many game systems in front of the huge flat-screen tv across from the couch proved it.

He noticed a little wooden table set up beside the sofa. It had a picture frame and a cordless phone lying on it's smooth polished surface. He picked up the picture frame and looked the picture over. In the picture, Cassidy was laughing and being hugged from behind by an older, taller man. The man had long light brown hair, glasses, and dangerous, light eyes. The man's eyes reminded Matt a lot of Mello, but the cheerful smile on his face broke the image.

'I wonder who he is' Matt thought. 'He looks a bit...sinister'

Matt looked over and gazed out of the giant glass windows that lined the right side of the apartment, giving the residents a beautiful view of the city life below. Cars zoomed by on the streets and all sorts of people roamed the sidewalk. Ever since people started accepting Kira, billboards and posters praising him have been set up all over the city. People were gathered around them and some were holding rallies, trying to gain more supporters and raise money for fan clubs.

He broke away from the depressing landscape when he suddenly felt something nipping at his toes.

"What in the-?"

He looked down and nearly suffered a heart attack. A huge, fully grown black Doberman pinscher was sniffing at his feet and biting gently at his toes through his socks. He reflexively curled up in his seat and covered his feet with his hands.

'Who let this dog- No, dog is an understatement. Who let this horse in here?!'

The dog's pointy ears flattened back against his head as he growled and bared his fangs at Matt.

"Shoo!" Matt said. "These are my toes, not yours! Shoo!"

Cassidy walked out of the kitchen with two glasses full of some sort of drink and gasped.

"Max! What are you doing out of the corner? You know you're punished! You were a very bad dog!"

Max whined and backed away from Matt. He looked up at Cassidy and tried to give her the 'innocent puppy' eyes.

"No! You know I'm very upset with you. Go! Back to the corner!"

Max ignored Cassidy and stood up on his hind legs to lick her face. He leaned his two massive front paws on her right arm and playfully lapped at her cheeks.

"M-Max! Stop it!!" Cassidy laughed. "It tickles! Down, boy!"

The dog got off of Cassidy, looked at Matt, and snarled.

"Bad Max!! Matt is my friend! Be nice!"

Max sat on the ground at Cassidy's feet and glared at Matt. He stared at the red-head carefully, watching his every move. He did not yet trust this stranger, no matter what his master told him.

"Ugh, please ignore Max. He's weird around strangers. He's usually friendly" Cassidy said.

She took a seat beside Matt and handed him one of the glasses she was holding.

"Oh! I see you found a picture of me with Soubi-sensei"

Matt looked down at the picture frame that was still in his hand. He completely forgot he was holding it; Max probably distracted him. A giant beast biting at your toes can do that to a person.

"So his name is Soubi..."

"What? Jealous?" Cassidy joked. "Aw, I'm kidding. The guy's a real sweetheart! A bit strange, though. And his art is amazing! I'm watching the dojo for him"

"You work there? I thought you were just doing a demonstration earlier or something"

Cassidy laughed. "No, sometimes I work there with Soubi-sensei. I'm his little helper! But he left a month ago to attend a tournament in another country and asked me and his other assistant to take over for him while he was away. I alternate with Seimei and today happened to be my turn"

"Why do you work at the dojo? Doesn't it interfere with your work on the Kira case?"

She shook her head. "Interestingly enough, it doesn't. Since I'm always in disguise during my spy work, nobody over there recognizes me while I'm working. You see, Soubi-sensei is a self defense instructor from Wammy's orphanage, so he understands when I have to go away on official business, but he's the only one other than you, Near, and Mello who knows my secret. I believe L had it arranged that Soubi was my self-defense teacher. Wedy thought it would be important for me to learn self defense just in case I may need it during a mission, and I also needed it to stay in shape, so that's how I ended up meeting him. Wedy was a very athletic woman and I had to keep up with her. And I work there now because, unlike you guys, I didn't get much money from Wammy's to support myself. I needed a job" she said, blushing from embarrassment.

"But a dojo? I thought you hated violence" Matt said.

"I hate confrontation, but the dojo teaches self defense and confidence, so I don't have a problem with it. I hate starting fights, but I have no problem finishing them now. I meet a lot of girls who remind me of my younger self...I'm glad I could teach them and give them confidence in themselves!"

"It's good that you found something that makes you happy" he said with a smile.

"Thank you! I love working beside Soubi-sensei so much! You know, when I started out, the others never pushed me around like the kids at Wammy's did; they all looked up to me because I reached the top of my class in no time at all. I was respected! It felt great to have others come to me for help and I was happy to teach them! It was so much fun!"

Cassidy smiled cheerfully, making Matt blush.

'Her smile...She looks so cute when she smiles like that...' he thought to himself.

Cassidy suddenly blushed also and covered her mouth.

"Oh, I'm talking too much, aren't I? You should tell me more about yourself! How did things go with you after I left?"

Matt suddenly frowned. "It was...lonely, but I got through it just fine. Things went pretty much the same way it did before you left until L died and Mello went off on his own to live life his own way and probably to catch Kira before Near did. You know how those two are always competing. He asked me to go with him a little while afterwards, so I did. We've been running around all over the place to catch Kira. Mello's even joined the mafia for a while, which is how he got that scar on his face. He was trying to escape when he was cornered by Soichiro Yagami and he blew his own hideout up to get away"

"I see..." Cassidy frowned, too. She hated seeing Matt sad like that. It hurt her a lot.

She hugged him tightly, nearly making him drop his drink from the shock. "I'm sorry, Matt...I'm sorry for making you sad by leaving...I missed you guys so much...So, so much...I even cried for you sometimes...When I was in trouble or feeling sad..."

Matt slowly hugged her back and she quietly began to cry.

"...I missed you, too. I couldn't believe you were gone. I just couldn't..."

Suddenly, Max got up and began to bark loudly, making the two jump up and break apart.

"What the-?" Cassidy said. "What's wrong, Max?"

Max growled and ran towards the hallway that led to the front door. Cassidy and Matt curiously followed.

"HEY! GET BACK!" a person shouted.

Cassidy and Matt gasped and Max roared and attacked.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update and sorry that this chapter was so long x.x School just ended for me (yay!) and I was busy catching up on things I promised people I would do a while back. Anyway, so here's the next chapter. I hope you guys liked it! I'm very grateful for the reviews I've been getting from you guys. They really do make me very happy and motivate me to update faster. Thank you guys once again! Please continue to read and review!!


	9. Chapter 9

**"Always and Forever": Chp 9**

Mello was standing just a few inches inside of Cassidy's apartment, holding his hands up to somehow defend himself from the huge dog barking and snarling at him. Cassidy laughed and Matt smiled. Max was about to leap onto Mello, but Cassidy whistled loudly, causing the dog to freeze in his tracks.

"Max, stay! Get back here right now!"

Max barked one last time at Mello, then walked slowly back to his master. Mello relaxed a bit and sighed.

"Stupid mutt" he mumbled.

"Mello! Welcome! I didn't know you were coming!" Cassidy said with a smile. "How'd you find the place, anyway?"

Mello shot an angry look at her.

"You! I came here to ask you to do a favor for me, but you don't take your spy work seriously. It was easy to find you, even after giving me the wrong address. What if I were a Kira worshiper, looking to hunt you down for being against Kira? Or maybe even Kira himself?"

Cassidy looked a bit confused. "What do you mean? What did I do wrong?"

"I asked a man at the address you gave me if he knew you and where you lived and he pointed at this apartment building and gave me your correct address. He shouldn't know where you live. Nobody should! You're a spy, Cassidy! It's supposed to be a secret! You need to take your job seriously!"

"...At least Max was protecting the place"

"Don't fool around with me!"

She sighed. "Mello...Who did you ask? What did the man look like?"

"Does it matter?"

"Just tell me!"

Mello sighed. "He was tall, thin, and he had long light brown hair and glasses. He had bandages around his neck and an earring, too"

Cassidy gasped. "Soubi-sensei?! He's back from his trip! I gotta go welcome him back!"

"You're missing the point, Cassidy!!"

"Oh, hush! Soubi-sensei's the only one who knows where I live! He's a close friend of mine!"

"How did he know it was safe to give me your address then, hm? It's dangerous to have others know where you live"

"He knew it was safe to tell you because I told him that I was expecting a girl who looked like a little Chucky doll to come visit me soon" Cassidy hissed angrily at Mello.

Mello growled and Matt nearly fell over in laughter.

"Matt! What's so funny? What are you doing here, anyway? If you're here, who's watching Misa?" Mello snapped.

Matt instantly stopped laughing. "Um..."

"Aw, don't yell at him, Mello. And I was only playing around with you. Don't be mad at him when you're really mad at me. I invited him over, so it's my fault. I'm sorry..." Cassidy lied.

Mello sighed. There was just no winning when it came to getting angry with Cassidy. She had an excuse for everything, which really ticked him off, but he liked her quick thinking and her new confident attitude, so he could not stay angry with her for long.

Cassidy smiled innocently.

"Why don't you just come in and have a drink with Matt and me? We can all talk inside, okay?"

"...Fine. Whatever"

Cassidy led Mello inside and seated him on the couch with Matt. She left to get Mello a drink, leaving Mello, Matt, and Max the dog alone in the living room. Max took one look at the two boys and growled lowly, trying to scare them into leaving his master alone. Mello growled back at Max.

"That's one heck of a guard dog. He's so big, she can just strap a wagon to it and go settle out in the west somewhere" Mello said, taking a bar of chocolate out of his pocket and biting into it.

Matt snickered and Max barked.

"Oh, settle down. We don't want to hurt your master, so go find a bone to bury or something"

Mello sat back and shook his head.

"She's so reckless. She's going to end up being the one that will give me a heart attack instead of Kira"

Cassidy returned with a drink for Mello and a huge dog bone for Max. She tossed it to her dog, who happily caught it and dragged it off to another room.

"So! What's up, Mello? What do you need?" she asked, taking a seat on the couch between the two boys.

"I need you to do some spy work for me" he answered, moving over a bit to give her room.

"Obviously!" Cassidy said with a laugh. "Who do you need me to watch over?"

"Well, you know Matt is keeping an eye on Misa Amane with cameras and stuff. She talks a lot about this man named Light Yagami. I want you to break into her apartment at night and find anything you can about this Light. Pictures, letters, anything! I want you to bring it to me once you're done, understood?"

"Light Yagami, huh...? I think Near spoke about him once or twice. Sure, I'll do it! Wait...what if I don't find anything?"

"I was thinking you could go back to her house every night for a few weeks. New things might come up and I want to find them before Near. I also have other things I want you to do, but they depend on the outcome of this mission. I'll tell you about them when that time comes"

"I see...Breaking and entering, huh? Sounds exciting. I'll do it!"

Mello smiled almost evilly. "Good. Then we're going to catch Kira before Near. I'll become number one!"

* * *

**A/N**: Another chapter done! I'm sorry it's so short. It _is _an important link to the next chapter after this one, however, and I am going to make sure I put that one up very soon. Anyway, I am totally grateful for every comment/subscription I get. A special thankies to the commenters and to all of my readers! Please continue to read and review!


	10. Chapter 10

**"Always and Forever": Chp 10**

Cassidy was actually very useful to Matt and Mello. She would obey Mello's every word and kept a closer eye on Misa than Matt did. Matt did not care about it; he just saw it as free gaming time.

Every day, Cassidy would follow Misa around while Mello would do some of his own investigating on the outside and Matt would be inside, spying on people with surveillance cameras and hacking into computers for information.

Every night, they would get together in person (if they were not too busy) or call each other up on the phone and share their discoveries with one another.

One night, Cassidy did not call anybody. Matt became a little worried and called Mello.

"What's wrong, Matt? Did Amane finally do something strange?" Mello asked.

""No. I just...Did Cassidy call you yet? I haven't heard from her. I usually hear from her by now..."

"Are you serious? You called me for that? The girl can take care of herself! She's a grown woman now, remember? She's not that scared little girl anymore. Besides, I'm pretty sure that bonehead can't die" Mello scoffed. "I sent her on a new mission last night, so maybe she's busy with that. Don't worry over her"

Matt was quiet. "...Okay..."

And with that, the phone call ended, but not Matt's worries.

Just then, there was a soft scratching at the door. The red-head looked at the door suspiciously. Nobody called him saying they were coming home, so who could it be? The police? Kira worshipers? He just spoke with Mello, so it could not be him. Could it be...Cassidy? But why would she scratch at the door like that?

"If this is a joke, it's not funny" Matt mumbled to himself.

He curiously walked over to the front door, gun in hand, and peeked through the peep hole. Nobody was standing there. Maybe another note? He slowly unlocked the door, when...

"...Matt? Is that you...?" a small voice said softly from behind the door.

"Cassidy!"

Matt swung the door open and Cassidy fell inside, hitting the ground face-first. Her body was bruised and bloody and her clothes were ripped to shreds, barely covering her up at all. Some of her bones looked broken and there were slashes all over her body.

He pulled her inside quickly and slammed the door shut. Cassidy whimpered in pain at Matt's touch.

"What happened to you?!"

Cassidy opened her mouth to speak, but coughed up some blood instead.

Matt raced out of the room, then came back with a first aid kit.

"Kira...Kira..." she mumbled.

Matt's blood turned cold. "...Kira?" Did Kira get her? Was she dying?

"They...They found me..." Cassidy coughed, then passed out.

The red-head growled and punched the wall beside him in anger. "Kira...Kira must be stopped!"

When Cassidy woke up, pain shot through her entire body. She felt as if she had fallen off a cliff and hit every rock on the way down. She put a hand to her forehead and gasped when she felt a bandage.

"W-Where am I? W-What's going on?"

She looked around the room as much as she could without causing herself pain. All she could tell was that she was in a bed, but she was certainly not at home and that it was night time. She was not able to move her head to see much more than that.

Mello suddenly appeared over her and licked his chocolate bar. "Hey, Matt! I think she's awake now"

Cassidy heard a quick tapping of footsteps approaching, followed by a loud crash.

"Ugh, idiot! How many times have I told you not to run around those monitors? They're not cheap, you know!" Mello growled.

Matt ignored Mello and rushed to Cassidy's side.

Cassidy looked down at herself. She was no longer wearing the tattered clothes she came in with. She was wearing a thick striped sweatshirt and a pair of baggy blue jeans that smelled a lot like cigarettes; undoubtedly borrowed clothing from Matt. Her body was almost entirely covered with bandages similar to the one around her forehead. One of her hands was even wrapped up in some sort of makeshift cast. She went to sit up, but a sharp pain ripped through her ribs.

"Don't move too much! You're still pretty bad..." Matt said quietly.

"What happened? How long was I out for?"

"Three days" Mello answered, munching on his chocolate.

"You came home all bloody and battered...We were so scared...We thought Kira..." Matt said.

Cassidy shook her head as much as her wounds allowed. "Kira would never get me. I won't let him"

Matt pressed his hand to her forehead. "Well, it looks like your fever is gone. And some color has returned to your cheeks. You're not sweating as much anymore"

Cassidy blushed. "Y-You guys have been taking care of me? What about the investigation?"

Mello snorted. "I've been doing it mostly myself! Matt has been watching over you like a mother hen"

Matt gasped and punched Mello in the shoulder. "S-Shut up! Oh yeah? Who was the one who looked like the world had ended when he saw Cassidy lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood?" he countered.

"You, that's who" Mello snapped, trying to protect his reputation.

"Regardless, thank you both" Cassidy said gently. She tried to smile, but a pain shot through her left cheek, making her cringe.

"You owe us an explanation, you know" Mello said. "What happened to you?"

Cassidy thought quietly to herself. "...I was gathering information on Kira amongst the Kira worshipers, just as you asked of me, when suddenly the crowd broke into a riot. The riot became so intense, the people knocked my disguise off..."

Since the shirt she was wearing was a bit baggy, she hugged it to herself like it were a plush, as she often did when she was younger and scared. It also smelled like Matt, which comforted her even more.

"...The others saw this and instantly became suspicious of me. 'What are you trying to hide?' they kept asking me. I had no excuse, so they came to the conclusion that I was a rebel spy and attacked me...They say they do it in the name of Kira..."

"But you didn't go down without a fight, right?" Matt asked.

"Of course I fought back, but there were too many of them. And there were some really big guys, too. I hurt quite a few of them, but they eventually got a hold of me and beat me. After that, they decided to broadcast my face on T.V. and have Kira decide what to do with me, but thankfully, I escaped before they even had a chance to take my picture. It took me a while, but I made my way back here and here we are"

"Nobody followed you, right?" Mello said quickly. "Did anybody see you?"

"No. I took the safe way back"

"...They really did a number on you..." Matt said. "Bruised arms...legs...They even broke a few fingers on your right hand and slashed your face...And it looks like they also tried to break your left leg"

"Did they get any of our information?" Mello asked.

Cassidy shook her head. "They got nothing from me. I destroyed it all once I realized that there were too many for me to fight off. I didn't want them to find anything on me. I even destroyed my phone..."

"So that explains why we didn't find anything on you..."

Cassidy turned a bright pink color. She had almost forgotten they were the ones who changed and bandaged her, which meant they saw and searched her body.

Mello noticed her realization and snickered. "Don't worry. We didn't ogle you. There was nothing worth ogling, anyway"

"Jerk" Cassidy spat.

"You'd rather have us do it, then?"

He got her there. She hmph'd and looked away from him.

"Oh. One more thing" Mello added. "You're restricted from leaving the apartment for the next few weeks"

"WHAT?!" Cassidy exclaimed. "You're grounding me?"

"You've proven that you can't take care of yourself, so I'm leaving you in Matt's care. Matt's in charge from now on"

Cassidy went to sit up to look at him face to face, but yelped and fell back onto the bed. "Ugh! Stupid ribs...Why I ougtta-"

Matt shushed them both. "Mello! You know shouldn't get her all worked up in her condition. And Cassidy! You know you can't do any spy work with those injuries. Besides, the worshipers might find you and finish the job...You're lucky you got away"

Mello scowled and Cassidy looked away in shame.

"Look on the bright side" Matt whispered to her. "You'll get to stay with me all day. We can play video games, just like old times"

"No games!" Mello snapped. "You two need to work! And I'm expecting more since you two are here working together"

Matt groaned and Cassidy smiled.

She was happy to be useful, even in her condition. She did not want to feel like she was a burden on them since she was not able to move too much on her own.

"Sounds good to me! Let's do it!"

* * *

A/N: Another chapter done! Thank you all very much for the reviews! I appreciate all of your opinions and I'm very grateful for all of the subscriptions/watches. I love you all so,so, so much! Please continue to read and review!


	11. Chapter 11

**"Always and Forever": Chp 11**

The next day, Mello went out to take care of some work he was meaning to do while Cassidy and Matt stood behind. Cassidy was stuck lying on the couch, so Matt took a seat on the ground in front of her with his back leaning against the couch by her feet. He took out a handheld and began playing while keeping an eye on the monitors.

"So, what are we doing today, Matty?"

"You're resting. I'm going to do what Mello told me to"

"What?! That's it? I'm practically useless!"

Matt shook his head. "You're not useless. Just rest and get better. The sooner you rest, the sooner you're going to get better, and the sooner you're back to your spy work, okay?"

Cassidy sighed in defeat. He was right. She tried to turn her back to him to show her frustration, but she ended up whining in pain when she accidentally hit a sore spot on her side. She fell onto her back and glared at the ceiling.

"See? You need your rest. Don't worry. If anything exciting happens, I'll let you know about it, alright?"

Cassidy mumbled in response and closed her eyes. There was not much for her to do with such limited movement but sleep.

Several days passed by and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Cassidy stood behind and helped Matt watch over Misa, which she thought was incredibly boring. She liked it a lot better when she was out on the field, spying on people and working out in the dojo. It gave her a thrill like no other. Despite what Matt told her, she felt like a burden.

After two weeks, Cassidy's condition improved. She was able to walk again, but with a slight limp. Some of her bandages were removed, but the wounds left scars on her body. The bridge of her nose had a long, dark, jagged scar crossing over it, extending from the top of one soft, freckled cheek to the other. The longest scar on her body was the one on her back, which went from her left shoulder blade to her lower back.

Cassidy was not ashamed of her scars, however. She was proud. She got them while helping her two best friends, so she did not mind them at all.

"Hey, Cassidy. Want to play a game of Super Smash Bros.?" Matt asked one afternoon.

She looked down at her hands and frowned. "...I can't. My fingers are broken, remember? They haven't healed yet..."

"So? All you need is your thumb, and last time I checked, both of yours were fine"

"But then how will I hold the controller?"

"You have two hands. Just use the other one to hold it"

Cassidy giggled. "You're desperate for a worthy challenger, aren't you?"

Matt smirked and tossed her a controller. "The computer seriously lacks mad Brawl skills"

She laughed and the game started.

"It's been a while, so I may be a little rusty" she warned.

"You were always a quick learner, so don't think I'm going to go easy on you"

Matt certainly did not go easy on her. Two minutes into the game, he was already declared the winner.

"What?! No fair! You took advantage of me! Rematch!! Rematch, I say!!" Cassidy hissed.

"Heh. All's fair in love and Super Smash Bros.. But a rematch sounds fun, so I'll take you up on that offer"

They both played ten rounds in a row and Matt won every single one.

"AGAIN!" Cassidy shouted.

"Aren't you tired? Don't you want to at least change characters? I'm tired of hearing Bowser's pitiful cries of defeat"

"NO! I must defend his honor!"

"It's kind of late for that..."

"Rematch!! I'm taking you and your stupid fox-thing down!"

Matt sighed and agreed to one more match.

"One more time, then that's it for today. Mello should be back any minute"

Cassidy nodded and the game began. The two gamers' eyes were focused intently on the screen. Cassidy was tapping buttons as fast as her hands allowed her to and Matt was simply taking it easy. Three minutes later, she stared at the screen in shock.

"I...I WON! I did it! I beat Matt!"

Matt was also shocked.

"But...how?! How can she do that?! She actually won..."

"WOOHOO!! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!"

Cassidy jumped up in celebration, but jumped a little too quickly and tripped over her baggy pants. Matt, not wanting her to worsen her condition, grabbed her arm and pulled her over into his lap to catch her. Her controller clattered noisily to the ground while she landed softly in his lap. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"...Thank you" she said quietly.

There was something about Matt's mysterious green eyes that has always mesmerized her and now that she was so close, she was powerless to look away.

"...Don't mention it..." he answered, equally as hypnotized by Cassidy's strong, yet gentle violet eyes.

Before either of them knew what was going on, Matt had his lips pressed gently against Cassidy's in a kiss. Cassidy's eyes widened in shock, but she quickly closed them and returned the kiss. His lips were a lot softer than she thought they were. They felt like silk against her own and even though he tasted like cigarettes, she did not care; she loved it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him there; a sign that told him she did not want him to stop or let her go.

Matt realized this and soon the innocent, gentle kiss became more intense. He caressed her lips gently with his tongue and she slowly parted them to grant him entrance. He immediately took that chance to enter her mouth and they explored each other's mouths lovingly. Just as he began sneaking a hand up her shirt, Cassidy pushed it away and broke the kiss.

"Nnn...Matt..."

"S-Sorry" Matt looked away shyly and whispered. "...I've just been wanting to do that for a long time..."

Cassidy blushed. "...I've been wanting to do that, too..."

"W-What? You have?"

She nodded. "...I like you, Matt. I mean...I like you, like you..."

Matt laughed softly. "I like you, like you, too"

Cassidy gasped. "Really?! So...does that mean you want to be...my boyfriend?"

He thought to himself for a few seconds. "...Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes! More than anything!"

"Then I guess I'm your boyfriend"

Cassidy laughed and hugged him tightly. He laughed too and hugged her back, but not too tight since he did not want to hurt her. She leaned up and kissed him on the lips and he kissed her back, making it official.

"So that's what you two do while I'm away"

The two shot apart from each other, as if the other had gained an electrical current, and sat as far apart as the couch allowed them to. Cassidy turned a bright red and Matt nervously scratched the back of his head.

Mello smirked and walked in from the darkness, taking a seat on the armchair adjacent to the couch. He had walked into the apartment earlier very quietly, without distracting Matt and Cassidy, just to discover this little scene waiting for him at home.

"So now you two are going to play coy?"

Cassidy tried to avoid eye contact with everyone by gazing at the floor. Mello looked to Matt, but he was busy staring at something on the ceiling.

"Fine, be that way. I'm just shocked I haven't walked in on something like this sooner. Or maybe something worse"

Cassidy gasped. "You mean you knew we liked each other? Is that why you grounded me? To play matchmaker by leaving us alone together all the time?!"

"Don't say stupid things. Of course not. It just happened to turn out that way. I suppose luck was on your side" Mello glanced at the tv screen and sighed impatiently. "And unless Misa Amane has turned into an ugly overgrown turtle, take that game off the screen NOW! You know you can't be playing games on any of the monitors!"

Cassidy scrambled to shut the game off.

"...What do you mean? How could you tell?" Matt asked quietly.

"That you two liked each other? That's easy" Mello broke a piece of his chocolate and made loud crunching noises. "Cassidy has been acting like a complete air head around you. She's been so happy and playful, but when she's out on missions, she's serious and quick-witted. She's like two different people"

"What about me?"

"You were tougher to uncover, but I found you out. You have always worried so much about her and you seem to have a soft spot for her. Plus, you always turn a little red when she touches you"

Cassidy smirked at Matt. "You do?"

"I-I do not!" Matt said.

"Yes, you do. And all I have to do is say something bad about Cassidy and Matt jumps all over me, like I've insulted him" Mello said.

"Aw, that's so cute!" she cooed.

Matt blushed and stood up from his seat. "I-I'm going to bed"

"Wait!" Cassidy grabbed his arm and Matt stopped and faced her, his face still as red as his hair. "I want to sleep with you..."

Matt nearly fainted and Mello chuckled. "My, aren't we bold?" he snickered.

Cassidy gasped. "No! I-I didn't mean it like that!! I-I-I-I just-Oh, forget it! I don't-" she stuttered until Matt stopped her by putting a finger to her lips.

"...I understood. You want to sleep beside me, just like when we were younger, right?"

"Yes...B-But if you think it'll be too weird, I'll understand. We are older now and...well, I guess it is a little strange...You wouldn't do something like that anymore. You're a big tough guy now... You wouldn't bother with something as...soft and girly as that. Oh, nevermind...I'm sorry I-"

"Oh, just sleep with her, would you? If it'll get her to stop rambling, then do whatever you want" Mello snapped impatiently.

Matt smiled and took her hand. "I don't mind doing something 'soft' like that, as long as it's for you. Just make sure you don't tell anyone" he said with a wink.

Cassidy smiled and hugged him tightly. "Yay!!"

"Good night, Mello" he said, leading her to the bedroom.

"Night-night, Mello!"

"Yeah, whatever", he mumbled, turning his back to them and waving his hand.

* * *

A/N: One more chapter down! I want to thank all of those who have been subscribing/commenting my story. It makes me very happy to see that people are enjoying my writing! Somebody once mentioned that a few characters (Cassidy's teacher Soubi and her friend Seimei) are characters from Loveless. I wanna congratuate them on pointing that out! I was hoping somebody would notice and mention that! Thank you so much for reviewing my story! Please continue reading and telling me what you guys think!


	12. Chapter 12

**"Always and Forever": Chp 12**

One morning, Matt woke up and the entire apartment was full of smoke. The smoke was really thick, making it hard to breathe and even see your own hand in front of your face.

He sniffed the air, smelling fire and burning. He instantly sat up, tossed the sheets off of himself, and pat the bed in search of Cassidy.

"Cassie? Cassidy?!"

He hopped out of the bed and pulled all of the sheets off. She was obviously no longer in the bed, so he left the room and began to search the house for her.

His mind raced as it became harder and harder to breathe and Cassidy was nowhere to be found. He began to choke once he reached the kitchen. He reached around, blinded by the smoke, hoping to at least find her by touch. He felt relieved once he felt her wrist and pulled.

"W-Whoa!"

It was Cassidy. That was all he needed to hear. He dragged her to the front door, kicked the door open, and rushed into the hallway. She stumbled the entire way behind him, coughing and struggling to breathe as well. The smoke poured into the hallway, but thinned out so they could breathe easier.

Matt closed the door behind himself and leaned against it. Cassidy stood in front of him, looking confused.

"Um...Matt? What just happened? Why did we leave so fast? Is everything okay?"

He looked at her and shook his head. "The apartment was on fire! And I-"

He froze. Cassidy was standing in front of him, wearing a singed pink apron over her pajamas and holding a spatula in her hand. Her hair was a bit burnt at the ends and she had flour all over herself. He slapped his forehead and slid down the door to sit on the ground in disappointment.

Cassidy blushed and hid her teary face behind the wide, flat black spatula.

"Um...I was trying to make breakfast..." she said quietly. "I guess I'm not as good a cook as I thought..."

Matt felt horrible. He had just insulted her cooking without meaning to and hurt her feelings. He tried to open the front door to let them both back inside and sighed.

"It's locked..." he mumbled.

Cassidy suddenly began to laugh. It started out sounding like she was crying, but when it became louder, it was actually laughter. She leaned against the opposite wall, dropped down onto the floor, and laughed. Matt chuckled as well, finally finding the humor in situation. There they were, locked out of their apartment in the early hours of the morning in nothing but their pajamas because they thought the place was on fire, when it was actually Cassidy's bad cooking. They both thought of calling Mello up to open the door, but they knew what his reaction would be to their situation. He would call them both idiots and leave them out in the hall to punish them for their carelessness.

Cassidy's laughter finally slowed down enough for her to talk. "Don't worry, I'll get us back in"

She took off the hair clip holding the hair away from her face, broke off two long, thin metal pieces and slowly inserted them into the lock. She worked them around carefully and smiled once she heard a small clicking noise. "Done"

The two went back inside, now choking on the thick black smoke. Matt opened all of the windows to clear the air while Cassidy tried to put out all of the fires that have started in the kitchen. Matt soon rushed to her aid with a fire extinguisher and put out all the fires she missed.

The fire was finally gone and the two collapsed onto the kitchen floor, panting.

"T-That was scary...I'm never cooking again..." Cassidy said.

"What were you trying to make, anyway?" Matt asked.

Cassidy hugged her knees and sniffled. "...I was trying to make pancakes, but the eggs I had cooking were burning, so I went to fix them, when suddenly, the toaster caught fire..."

Matt looked at the toaster and inside were two completely black round things. "...Were you using the toaster to make the pancakes?"

"...Maybe"

"You can't cook pancakes in a toaster, Cassidy"

"Well, I know that now! I thought they were toaster pancakes... Besides...they looked great before they burst into flames..."

Matt was quiet. "...Wait a minute. Where did you get those pancakes, anyway?"

"The back of the freezer. Why?"

"I've never bought frozen pancakes before and I'm pretty sure Mello hasn't either..."

The two suddenly looked very, very disgusted.

"Ewwww!!" they cried in unison.

"I am sooo glad I didn't eat those!" Matt said, shivering from the thought of eating some mystery round food from the freezer.

Cassidy sighed. "...I'm horrible at cooking..." she pouted.

Matt put an arm around her. "You may not be the best chef, but you're good at other things. Nobody's good at everything. I appreciate the gesture, though"

She sighed sadly and he hugged her. "How about this? I'll go out to get us something to eat and you try to clean this mess up, okay?"

"...Okay...I don't think the smoke is good for the surveillance equipment, anyway"

So, Matt changed into his normal striped shirt, jeans, and boots and left to get some food. Cassidy stood behind and tried her best to clean everything up. He returned one hour later with a delicious smelling bag of hot food.

"Honey, I'm home!" he joked as he stepped inside.

He put out the cigarette he just finished smoking and looked around the main room of the apartment for Cassidy, but she was nowhere to be found. A majority of the smoke had cleared and the burning smell of food was not as strong as it was when he left. He decided to look for her in the kitchen, but she was not there, either.

Matt began to worry again.

"Cassidy?" He called out.

"Hey, Matt"

The red-head jumped at least twenty feet into the air and his heart almost leaped out of his chest. She was standing behind him, inspecting something in her hands.

"Cassidy, don't do that! You had me worried"

Instead of answering him, she held up a box with a drawing of a group of young women on the front wearing nothing but bikini bathing suits, which looked like they were three sizes too small. They were laughing and splashing around on a beach together.

Matt turned pale. Cassidy took the box back and examined the back, which made the front picture look family-friendly.

"I didn't know you liked stuff like this" she told him with a curious expression.

"It'snotmine,it'sMello's,Iswear!!" he said quickly, snatching the box away and hiding it behind his back.

"Now I know that's a lie! Mello is so obsessed with Near, you'd think he was in love with the kid! He wouldn't be interested in this. Besides, it looks like some sort of adult video game to me and you know how he feels about video games"

"W-Well...Um..." Matt turned red.

Cassidy leaned to see the box behind his back and smiled. "So, you prefer big breasted women, huh?"

Matt glimpsed downwards and paused. "...Not necessarily" he mumbled.

She pinched his cheek and pulled. "And what was that glance for?"

"Ow! Ow! Cassidy, you know you're the only girl I'm interested in!"

Cassidy let him go and pouted. Matt took a step back and rubbed his cheek.

"Damn, that hurt..."

"...I'm sorry..."

"...I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out on a date tonight, but I don't know if you want to go n-"

"A-A date?!"

Matt nodded. "You need some fresh air and now that the heat on you has died down and your injuries are mostly gone, I figured it would be safe for you to walk around outside now, but with a disguise, of course"

"I don't know..."

"You can't stay inside all the time. I know it's probably killing you. I mean, you haven't been out in weeks"

"But you stay inside all of the time!" she said with a pout.

"I know, but that's me. You're different. You like adventure and I don't mind just staying inside"

"But staying inside with you all the time never bothered me! Not once! I don't mind being locked inside for a long time, as long as I'm with you..."

She clung to him and he hugged her. "...I understand. But I want to take you out, anyway. I mean...that's what couples do, right?"

Cassidy smiled mischievously and held up the box she snatched from behind his back while she was hugging him.

"Hm, I don't know! Why don't we consult the box? What do couples do?"

He smirked and took it back. "I don't think you'd like the outcome of that"

"And how would you be so sure?" she winked.

Matt stared at her in disbelief and she took the opportunity to pounce him, steal the box, and scamper off to another room. He followed close behind her, laughing the entire way.

The two continued to play and breakfast had been long forgotten. That night was certainly going to be an interesting one.

--

A/N: Sorry I took so long to update this! I was busy with a personal project that has consumed most of my time. But now that it is done, I can get back to posting these. I am really happy that so many people have subscribed to this story and I'll make sure to update as often as I can just for my fans. Thank you all so very much for your support! Please continue to read and review!


	13. Chapter 13

**"Always and Forever": Chp 13**

Matt lit his cigarette and clicked the small silver lighter shut. He took a big puff as he shoved the lighter back into his pocket and glanced at his watch.

"Are you done yet?" he called out.

"Almost ready!" Cassidy called back from the bedroom. "Let me just finish up my makeup!"

Normally, she would have been ready for him in ten minutes and they would have been out the door by now, but since she had to make sure she was properly disguised, she needed several hours.

Matt sighed and leaned his back against the front door. Cassidy had been getting ready for three hours and his patience was leaving him.

He took another puff of his cigarette and scratched his head. He had combed his hair and put some gel in it for the occasion, instead of simply leaving it alone as he normally did, to keep it down and looking neat. He did not use too much, but it still felt a bit strange since he was not used to putting stuff in his hair.

"Done!"

Cassidy stepped out of the bedroom slowly and smiled shyly. "Well? What do you think?"

Matt was astonished. She looked like a completely different person. Her hair was a long and silky light brown, ending at the middle of her back. Two black skull hair clips were at the opposite sides of her head, holding her hair up away from her face, and matching the gothic lolita dress she was wearing, which reached the middle of her thighs. Her legs were covered in fishnet stockings and she wore black knee-high laced boots on her feet.

What surprised him the most was that her scars and bruises were completely gone. It was hard to believe she had any in the first place. Even her freckles were gone. Her eyes were no longer the strong violet color, but a gentle, shiny blue, which reminded him a lot of winter.

Cassidy noticed him staring and shyly backed away. "D-Do you like it?"

He smiled. "I absolutely love it. You're very cute. Now can we go?"

She punched the air excitedly. "Let's rock and roll!!"

Matt led her outside and they got into his car. He started the engine and held out blindfold for her.

"Here. Put this on"

She hesitantly took it from him. "Um..."

"Don't worry. You trust me, right?"

"Well...yeah, but-"

"Put it on. I want this to be a surprise"

Cassidy obediently tied the blindfold over her eyes and they left. The ride was sort of quiet; Matt was concentrating on his driving and Cassidy's mind was busy thinking of the places Matt wanted to take her.

When they told Mello they were going out on a date, Mello grudgingly agreed. He would have rather had them stay behind and work on the Kira case, but they did deserve a break after all and they probably would have snuck out together anyway if he said no. Cassidy did not care either way. She thought sneaking out to date would have been more exciting and romantic, but a date is a date. After all, she did live for the thrill of breaking the rules.

Matt turned on the radio to break the silence. A rock song came on and Cassidy softly sang along to it. He slowly gave in and sang with her. Before they knew it, an hour went by. Cassidy sighed and leaned against the window.

"Matt, when can I take this blindfold off?"

"When I take off mine"

"Matt!" Cassidy instantly went to untie her blindfold.

The red-head laughed and stopped her. "Don't take it off! I was only playing around!"

"That wasn't funny" she pouted. "I actually believed you"

"Aw, I'm hurt" he said in pretend sadness. "Don't worry. We're almost there"

A few minutes later, Matt parked the car and helped Cassidy step out. He walked with her for a while, making sure she had a good hold of his arm since she was still blinded. She held onto him tightly, stumbling while she walked since she could not see where she was going. He suddenly stopped her and took her blindfold off.

Cassidy was temporarily blinded by the sudden light and rubbed her eyes. She took one look at where she was and gasped.

"T-The Golden Saucer?!"

The couple was standing in front of a big, bright arcade with the words "The Golden Saucer" in glowing golden lights on a huge sign over the door. Laughter and talking could be heard inside of the building and outside, a few couples were sitting at the onyx tables that were set up out front, sharing drinks and food and talking. Since it was cold outside, they were snuggled up next to each other, sharing cups of hot chocolate. The place looked like a typical teenage hangout, which made Cassidy happy. She has always wondered what it would be like to be a normal teenager.

Matt felt a bit uncomfortable outside and around the crowd at the arcade, but since Cassidy was by his side, he could deal with it.

Cassidy suddenly remembered his dislike of being outside and became a little worried.

"Are you sure it's okay that we're here? I don't mind going anywhere else" she said.

He shook his head. "No way. I came here to have a good time with you, and that's what we're going to do"

"But Matty, I know you don't like being out and around so many people, so I'm okay with going somewhere more quiet. Really, it's fine"

"...Are you saying you don't like the place I chose for our date?"

"N-No! I'm just saying-"

"Then trust me. I'm fine" he smiled.

Cassidy blushed. His smile was just too cute and she could never resist him when he smiled like that. Matt took her hand and walked into the arcade with her. The inside of the arcade was not as crowded as she expected it to be.

'It's Friday night...Isn't that a normal date night? Hm...I wonder where all the people are...' she thought to herself.

The setting inside was rather dark. The only lights that lit the place up were from the games' screens and shining, flashing buttons. The lights were bright and colorful, giving the arcade a joyful and fun type of mood. Music played from the speakers around the arcade, but they were unable to tell what kind of music it was over the music blasting from the games. At the back of the arcade was a prizes booth, where people could exchange the tickets they win from games for plushies and other types of toys.

"Wow! This place is amazing!" Cassidy said.

"I like this place, too. Now, remember Mello's condition for this date. We can go out and have a good time as long as we don't attract any unnecessary attention to ourselves, okay?"

"Yes, sir! I remember!"

"Good. So, what game do you want to try out first?"

"Hm..." Cassidy looked down at her hand and thought to herself. "I can't play many games that require me to move this hand too fast. Even though the cast is gone, it still hurts a bit to bend my fingers..."

"Then let's look around the place and see if we'll find any games we like"

"Okay!"

The couple toured the arcade, hand in hand. They walked by shooting games, sports games, and fighting games, but neither of them were interested in trying any of those games out.

Cassidy loved holding Matt's hands. She loved how her hands fit perfectly in his. She preferred holding his hand when he was not wearing his gloves because she loved how rough they felt against her own; they felt so masculine. They were so strong and calloused from playing many hours of video games and she admired it.

"Hey, what's going on over there?"

Matt pointed at a huge crowd forming around one of the loud, flashing game machines. Cassidy tried to see what was going on by standing on her toes, but stumbled a bit instead. She sighed and decided to ask somebody instead.

"What's going on over there?" she asked a nerdy-looking young boy.

"This guy has an undefeated DDR record! He's even defeated the champion's high score!" the kid said. "He's like the best DDR player ever!"

Cassidy smirked. "Oh, really? We'll see about that"

She pulled Matt's arm and fought her way to the front of the crowd to see what this person was really made of. Matt reluctantly followed. He had a strong feeling she was going to do something a bit...

"I challenge you!"

...foolish.

The crowd gasped in shock.

Cassidy hopped up to the DDR machine and smiled confidently. The young man she challenged was extremely thin and had a mess of black hair upon his head. He slouched a bit and his eyes were a shiny ruby red. He gave her a creepy smile and nodded.

"You're very cute. I accept your challenge. My name is Yayoi. What is yours?"

"I'm Cassidy. Are your ready to lose?"

"You talk big, but can you bring it?"

Cassidy laughed. "Ha! Delivery for Yayoi! It's brought!"

Matt slapped his forehead. Cassidy knew she was not supposed to attract any attention, yet here she was; challenging who was supposed to be the new champion of DDR in front of a huge crowd. If Mello found out about this, he would kill them both.

The tokens clinked into the machine and the game stared. Fast, loud music blared from the speakers and the two players closely followed the moving arrows that flashed across the screen.

Yayoi moved around effortlessly, as if he already knew what the next move would be before the game even put it up. He moved in time with the music and flowed with the beat.

Cassidy focused on the arrows, blocking out the world around her to follow the rhythm. She swayed to the music and hopped around the pad enthusiastically. She was not going to be defeated.

The machine shouted out compliments on the gamers' moves while the crowd cheered. Matt quietly cheered his girlfriend on from the sidelines, admiring her dance moves as he watched.

Suddenly, Cassidy stumbled and tripped, falling against the bar that went across the back of the dance pad. She had totally forgotten about her weakened leg and she dropped to her knees in pain.

Yayoi ignored her and kept dancing, determined to keep his title as the DDR master.

Matt rushed over to her and crouched down beside her.

"Are you okay?"

"...I'm fine..." she lied.

Cassidy was far from fine; she was totally humiliated. She just wanted to have a little fun by challenging the champion and at least putting up a good fight, but she ended up embarrassing herself in front of everyone. But most importantly, she embarrassed herself in front of Matt, which made things ten times worse. She looked at the floor in shame and wiped the silent tears from her eyes.

He gently helped her up and walked her off of the dance pad. The game ended soon afterwards and the scores popped up on the screen.

"I win" Yayoi said confidently.

The crowd roared in excitement. Yayoi bowed and leaned against the machine, waving at his admiring fans.

"So, who else is foolish enough to challenge me?" he said with a smirk.

"I want to challenge you" Matt said, stepping up.

The crowd, including Cassidy, gasped. Matt pushed up his goggles and glared at Yayoi.

"B-But Matt! You...You can't-!"

"I don't care. Nobody insults my girlfriend like that" he growled at Yayoi. "Besides, I haven't had a good work out in a long time"

Cassidy blushed. Matt was usually competitive when it came to video games, but she has never seen him like this. He looked like he was going to rip the smaller man apart and it made her heart beat madly.

'He's so hot!' her mind squealed. 'We have got to buy our own DDR game before we go home'

Yayoi laughed. "Fine. I'll defeat you both"

"Yeah, whatever" Matt pulled his goggles back down and inserted a coin into the machine.

A loud, rhythmic song blasted from the speakers as the game started. Both gamers stared fixedly at the screen, stomping the arrows as hard as they could, determined to embarrass the other with defeat. The machine complimented each of their steps as they jumped all around the dance pad with the music.

Cassidy gasped. 'H-He's really good at this game! When did he get so good?!'

Cassidy remembered having a DDR game at the Wammy house, having received it for her birthday one year. Matt, Mello, and her played it all the time, but Matt was not that good at it. He would stumble over his own feet a lot and step on the wrong arrows at the wrong times, but with the way he was playing currently, nobody would have ever guessed. Now he was moving with rhythm and ease, as if he had been playing the game his entire life. His skill rivaled that of Yayoi's.

Yayoi grumbled when he found out that Matt was slightly in the lead. In desperation, he decided to play dirty. He stepped to the side and swung his arm wide in an attempt to strike Matt and throw off his movement.

Matt took the hit and stumbled. 'So he's playing dirty, huh? Fine. I'll show him who the better player is'

Instead of taking the hit and falling back, Matt gracefully twirled and continued to play as if nothing happened. Yayoi inwardly curse at his failed attempt. He growled and tried to hit Matt again, but this time, with a kick. Matt jumped extra high to ditch Yayoi's leg and landed on the correct arrows just in time.

"That was fun" Matt whispered to Yayoi with a sly smirk. "Keep them coming. This just keeps things...interesting"

Yayoi continued to throw hits at Matt, but Matt continued to magnificently dodge the hits and play the game.

The game finished quickly and the crowd cheered.

"Well, that was fun" Matt said, panting and wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Yes...It was..." Yayoi answered, breathing equally as hard.

Cassidy rushed over and hugged Matt tightly. He hugged her back and kissed her forehead.

"That was wonderful, Matty! It was such a cool fight! I've never seen anything like it! You were so brave!"

"Brave? All I did was play DDR" he said with a chuckle.

Cassidy faced the gigantic crowd that formed around the machine during the game, making Matt take a look himself. The size of the crowd seemed to have tripled in size from the size before the game started.

Matt paled and his knees suddenly felt weak. He really disliked all of this attention.

"Winner...Player Two!!" the game declared loudly.

"Y-You won!!" Cassidy told him, smiling cheerfully.

"What?!" Yayoi snarled. "H-How could this be?! This machine must be broken!"

Matt smirked and hugged Cassidy close to himself. "The machine isn't broken. I just forgot to tell you. I'm awesome"

What Cassidy did not know is that when she left, Matt continued to practice playing DDR, determined to master that game as well. He had a strong desire to master, or at least become a little skilled in, every game he has ever played. The fact that he struggled with DDR bothered him greatly, so he decided to play and practice every chance he got. Luckily, Cassidy left her game behind when she left, allowing him to play as much as he pleased.

Everybody in the arcade shouted and cheered for Matt while Yayoi angrily stomped away from the machine. Cassidy grabbed Matt by the collar and pulled him into a victory kiss, making the crowd cheer even louder.

--

A/N: Another chapter done! I am very grateful for all of your support and patience. I just started another year of school, but that won't slow me down. I'll still post this story regularly since I already have the entire thing typed out. Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews and subscriptions! Please continue to read my story and send me your thoughts and opinions!


	14. Chapter 14

**"Always and Forever": Chp 14**

Matt and Cassidy were telling each other funny stories and laughing heartily as they drove home after their first date.

Cassidy had a colorful candy necklace around her neck and a big, fluffy white bunny plush in her lap, which she held to herself tightly as she giggled. Matt had a few glowing bracelets around his wrists and a hat with dog ears poking out of the top resting on his head.

Cassidy picked up a blue soda can that had been sitting in the cup holder of the car and took a drink.

"So, Mello zoomed across the room and smacked right into the wall!" Matt laughed.

Cassidy almost choked on her drink. She laughed and coughed over her soda. "S-Stop! You're going to kill me! Or at least make soda come out of my nose!"

Matt stopped the car and pat her back. "Don't die on me!" he said in mock desperation.

She coughed a bit more and sighed. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and looked around. "Hey! We're at my house!"

"Yeah. Would you like me to walk you to your apartment?"

"W-Wait. Don't even kid like that. Aren't I going back with you?"

Matt looked sadly to the ground and shook his head. "...Mello wants to talk privately with me, so he told me to bring you back here"

"Let me talk to him! I'll straighten this out" She went for her phone, but Matt stopped her.

"No. He sounded serious. Don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow to pick you up"

Cassidy pouted. "B-But I'll wait in another room! And I promise not to spy on you guys! Please let me go back with you! I don't want to be home alone!"

"Mello is determined to defeat Near with the Kira case. He needs me to go back alone right now. I'm sorry... Besides, I bet Max really misses you"

She whined silently in defeat. "Alright...But...But can you come upstairs for a little while? For a drink?"

"But Mello-"

"Please! As a thank you! Please??" She held his arm and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"...Fine. But only for a little while"

"Thank you!!"

Matt parked the car outside of the building and they walked to her apartment holding hands the entire way. He protested going, but he wanted to go just as much as Cassidy wanted him to. He had a strong feeling he knew what Mello wanted to talk to him about and he wanted to spend as much time as he could with the woman he loved.

Cassidy opened the door and Max raced over to her, nearly knocking her over as he pounced. He barked happily and licked her cheeks.

"Aw, Max! I'm happy to see you, too! Wait a minute...If Max is still here, who took care of him while I was away with you?"

"I think Mello had Soubi come by here every day to make sure the dog was walked and had enough food and water for the day"

Cassidy smiled and cuddled Max. "Aw, I have to thank them both"

The dog hopped off of his master and growled at Matt. Cassidy shooed Max away and scolded him.

"No! I told you, Matt is good! No growling at him! Bad!"

Max snapped at the red-head once and walked off to another room. It was really late at night and he was too tired to argue with his master. Matt sighed in relief and Cassidy gasped.

"It's snowing! Look!"

She raced over to the window that gave her a view of the city and pressed her hands against the glass. She dropped onto the ground and lay there on her back with her head towards the window and her feet towards the door, without even bothering to turn on the lights in the house and letting everything stay illuminated by the city lights.

Matt stared at her as if she had grown another head.

Cassidy flailed and whined. "Get down next to me!" she said.

He shrugged and lay down next to her in a similar manner. He looked at her, wondering what to do next and why they were even lying there like that.

"Soubi-sensei taught this to me. If you look up at the snow in front of the window like this while lying down on your back, it feels like you're inside a snow globe...It's a...peaceful feeling. And it's beautiful, isn't it?"

Cassidy laid there, looking up at the snow and smiling serenely. Matt mimicked her and looked up. He pushed his goggles up to get a better look. She was right. They did look like they were lying inside of a snow globe and it gave him a sense of peace. As if the Kira case did not exist and they had all the time in the world to do whatever they pleased. As if they existed alone and no one else.

Matt was suddenly slammed back into the real world when he felt Cassidy grip his hand.

"You know, Matt...You remind me a lot of somebody..."

He looked back up at the snow and gently squeezed her hand.

"I do? Who?"

"Link"

"...Link? From the Legend of Zelda games?"

Cassidy hummed in response. "You do"

Matt was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're extremely brave and strong, just like Link. You're one of the smartest people I know and you've grown into a very, very handsome man" she said, blushing. "You have always protected me; when I was little and even now. You're kind of like...a hero"

He pondered this for a while.

"Hm...Well, if that's the case, then I suppose you'll be Zelda"

"M-Me? Zelda? Why?"

He turned and laid on his side, facing her. "You're also smart and strong and you aren't just a damsel in distress; not anymore. You know how to fight for yourself and you don't just sit around relying on people. You take action, just like she did"

Cassidy turned her head to look at him. "...Do you really think so?"

"Yes. And not only that, but you've grown up to be a beautiful princess...My princess"

They gazed into each other's eyes for a few minutes in nothing but silence until suddenly, they moved together and kissed. It was a rather strange and awkward position, so Matt moved over to straddle her waist. He held himself up on his elbows while Cassidy wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him in closer into the kiss. They kissed lovingly until she laughed and broke the kiss.

"Hm? What's so funny?" Matt whispered, kissing down her neck.

"I just thought of something" she said, still giggling. "If we're Link and Zelda, does that leave Mello to be Ganon?"

Matt laughed. "I never thought of that. I guess it does"

"I always knew he had to be some sort of scary thing on the side" she chuckled.

"It probably happens during every full moon"

The couple laughed over the thought of Mello growing a pig's nose and hooves under a full moon. The image was a bit ridiculous, though it was funny how they could imagine it so easily.

"Sorry about that...I just had to say it" Cassidy said with a shy smile.

"It's okay. Now, where were we?"

Matt smirked and pressed his lips against hers in another kiss. The kiss swiftly went from soft and innocent to heated and passionate. Cassidy ran her fingers through Matt's hair, admiring the silky feeling of his red locks. Matt relished the feeling of Cassidy caressing his hair and ran his hands up and down the sides of Cassidy's body, making her gasp and moan softly when he touched certain areas.

--

Back at the apartment, Mello was sitting in his armchair, leaning on one arm of the chair while his leg hung lazily over the other as he ate a bar of chocolate. Once he heard the front door open, he snapped off a piece and chewed it noisily.

"Do you have any idea how late it is, Matt?"

"...Sorry" the red-head said quietly as he closed the door behind himself.

"What took you so long? You know this is important"

"I said I'm sorry. I was just...busy"

Mello faced Matt and shook his head. The red-head had dark circles around his eyes and he looked completely disheveled and depressed.

"Matt...You're going to make it harder for yourself to do this. I told you not to do it. You know-"

"I don't care. I love her, Mello. But I'm completely loyal to this mission, so you don't have to worry about me backing out...I just..."

"So then did you tell her what she had to do tomorrow?"

"...I didn't. I didn't tell her anything about tomorrow"

"Why not?" Mello said, trying his best to keep his temper.

"I don't want her to get hurt..."

"She knew what she was getting into when she agreed to work with us! She's not a child anymore, Matt! She's a grown woman, so stop sheltering her!"

"I'm always going to protect her, Mello! I don't care what happens, I'll always guard her! I won't let anything happen to her; Not if I can help it. I don't want her with us on that mission tomorrow. It's too dangerous..."

Mello sighed impatiently. "Whatever. There's no time to get angry or argue. You know what we have to do, right?"

Matt quietly nodded.

"...I see...Then let's go over the plan one more time" Mello said quietly. "This time...we'll leave Cassidy out..."

* * *

**IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!**

A/N: Okay, I have an important announcement. This is the second to last chapter to the story (sadly...), which means there is only one chapter left before the story is over. However, fret not because I have written an alternate ending with an epilogue! Yay! I want to thank everyone for all of their support and please continue to read and review my story! If anybody has any questions about anything that has to do with the story, please feel free to ask and I will answer it as quickly as I could!


	15. Chapter 15

**"Always and Forever": Chp 15**

Cassidy woke up that morning to the sun shining through her bedroom window and onto her face. She squeezed her violet eyes shut and groaned while turning over. She gasped when her arm hit the empty spot on the bed beside her.

"Matt?"

She sat up and looked around the room. All of his things were gone and the room was tidied up from the previous night's events. The floor was bare from any stray/fallen items and her clothes were folded neatly on the night stand beside the bed.

'Oh yeah...He had to leave last night...That's alright. I'll see him again later today. I wonder what mission we'll have for today'

Cassidy smiled warmly and dressed herself.

When she arrived at Matt and Mello's apartment, disguised as a red-haired college student, she cheerfully knocked on the door. She waited a few seconds, then knocked again, but louder.

'That's strange. Matt usually gets the door on the first knock. I hope he's feeling alright...'

She knocked for a third time and Matt finally came to the door.

"Good morning!" Cassidy said, smiling.

"...Good morning" Matt answered.

Something was off about him. The usual cheerfulness Cassidy noticed in his voice was gone and his eyes looked full of sorrow. Cassidy began to worry.

"Matt? Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?"

"Um...yeah. I'm fine and you've done nothing wrong, Cassie"

He smiled innocently and kissed her forehead. That was all she needed. Cassidy smiled back and they walked into the main room of the apartment.

Matt sat on the couch, and un-paused the game on the t.v.. She smiled, took a seat beside him, and leaned on his shoulder.

"Oh! You're playing Legend of Zelda!"

Matt nodded. "I really like this one. Link turns into a wolf, you know"

Matt continued to play his game and Cassidy happily watched, just like they did when they were children.

Later on that day, Matt's phone rang. He picked up and after a long, quiet conversation, he nodded gravely.

"Yeah...I'm on it, Mello. Alright..."

He hung up and looked at Cassidy. She was sitting on the couch, innocently taking the game over for Matt.

"Yay! I defeated that gross plant thing! He's got nothing on me!" she cheered.

"Hey, Cassidy...Could you do me a favor and go pick up this game I had reserved? Tomorrow's the deadline to pick it up and I'd hate to lose it"

"Hm? Okay!" She got up from the couch and slid her jacket on. "Oh! Why don't you come with me? It'll be more fun that way"

"I can't" he said quickly, making Cassidy jump a bit in surprise. "I can't. Mello gave me something to do"

"Oh...Okay, then. I'll be back in two shakes of a Yoshi's tail!"

Cassidy pecked Matt on the lips, but he pulled her in and gave her a romantic kiss on the lips. When he pulled back, Cassidy looked shocked.

"I-I'll always love you...I want you to remember that" he said quietly.

"I'll always love you too, Matty...Always and forever! Just like our promise, remember?"

Matt nodded. "I remember. The promise of forever is like that. Forever loving and devoted, right?"

Cassidy smiled cheerfully. "Yes! See you later, Matty!!"

She smiled, then left.

Matt watched her leave, then put on his vest and grabbed a gun before leaving the apartment as well.

"...Goodbye, Cassidy..."

Cassidy went to the game store and picked up the game, just as Matt asked. The game looked like a lot of fun and she could barely wait to play it with him when she got back. She hopped onto her motorcycle and revved the engine, just when a car raced past in front of her at an insane speed.

"Hey...That looked like Matt's car..."

She took out the binoculars she carried in her bag and took a closer look at the car's driver.

"Oh my...That IS Matt!"

Suddenly, a mess of big black cars sped after his. Cassidy looked really worried. She swiftly put on her helmet and raced after them all.

'Matt's in trouble!'

She cursed herself for not volunteering to stay behind and help him. She made her motorcycle go as fast as it could, hoping to catch up to Matt, but she could not make it past the sea of black cars. There were simply too many of them.

Suddenly, they all stopped, which caused Cassidy to nearly crash into the car in front of her. She slowed down, but she did not stop; not until she reached Matt to make sure he was okay.

'Stupid Matt doing stupid things!' she shouted in her head. 'And I'm sure Mello had something to do with this!'

After a seemingly endless line of black cars, she finally reached the front. She stopped her bike, hopped down and took off her helmet, struck speechless.

Matt was standing with his hands up and a bunch of men in suits surrounded him in a circle, pointing their guns at him.

"Oh, Matt..."

Cassidy went to rush out and stop them, but it was too late. The men fired a barrage of bullets into Matt.

Cassidy could not believe what was happening in front of her eyes. The man she loved, shot down right in front of her very own eyes.

"MATT!!", she cried out into the night sky with everything she had.

Every fiber of her being was screaming. Screaming for her Matt to be okay; for Matt to be alive, but she knew he was not. She knew he would never be able to talk to her again or smile or laugh with her. He would not be there to hug her anymore...or kiss her...or hold her...She could not handle the thought anymore.

"You did this...You killed him...YOU...YOU MONSTERS!!" she shrieked.

Cassidy took out her gun and shot into the circle, but it was too late. A cacophony of gunshots sounded and she collapsed onto the ground at Matt's feet; her body full of bullet holes, just as his was.

The last thing Cassidy saw before she died was a flash of memories. Memories of when she first moved into the orphanage...the day she first met Matt...the day she left the orphanage...the days she worked with Wedy...then Soubi and Near...the day she was reunited with Matt...the days they spent with him trying to catch Kira...their first date...their special night together...Then everything was going dark. But before everything stopped, she used the last of her strength in a whisper.

"...I love you, Mail..."

"...I love you...Carmelita..."

"We'll always...be together...right?"

"...Always... and forever..."

And with that, everything became silent and went black.

-End-

--

**IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THE _ENTIRE _MESSAGE!**

A/N: Sadly, this is the final chapter. I am so grateful to you loyal readers for sticking with my story and reading it to the (original) end. Thank you so very, very much! :3 I love you all! Even though this is the final chapter, **I have written an alternate ending with an epiloge**, so make sure to keep an eye out for that! You definitely don't want to miss reading that. I will post it soon (since it's already all written up). Thanks again for reading my story and remember, if you have any questions at all about my story, don't hesitate to ask! Messages make me happy!


	16. Chapter 16: Alternate Ending

*****THIS IS THE ALTERNATE ENDING!*****

*****It starts off the same as the previous chapter, but ends differently!*****

**"Always and Forever" : Chp 15** (Alt)

Cassidy woke up that morning to the sun shining through the window and onto her face. She squeezed her violet eyes shut and groaned while turning over. She gasped when her arm hit the empty spot on the bed beside her.

"Matt?"

She sat up and looked around the room. All of his things were gone and the room was tidied up from the previous night's events. The floor was bare from any stray/fallen items and her clothes were folded neatly on the night stand beside the bed.

'Oh yeah...He had to leave last night...That's alright. I'll see him again later today. I wonder what mission we'll have for today'

Cassidy smiled warmly and dressed herself.

When she arrived at Matt and Mello's apartment, disguised as a red-haired college student, she cheerfully knocked on the door. She waited a few seconds, then knocked again, but louder.

'That's strange. Matt usually gets the door on the first knock. I hope he's feeling alright...'

She knocked for a third time and Matt finally came to the door.

"Good morning!!" Cassidy said, smiling.

"...Good morning" Matt answered.

Something was off about him. The usual cheerfulness Cassidy noticed in his voice was gone and his eyes looked full of sorrow. Cassidy began to worry. Had she done something wrong?

"Matt? Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?"

"Um...yeah. I'm fine. You've done nothing wrong, Cassie. It's nothing"

He smiled innocently and kissed her forehead. That was all she needed. Cassidy smiled back and they walked into the main room of the apartment.

Matt sat on the couch, and un-paused the game on the t.v.. She smiled, took a seat beside him, and leaned on his shoulder.

"Oh! You're playing Legend of Zelda!"

Matt nodded. "I really like this one. Link turns into a wolf, you know"

Matt continued to play his game and Cassidy happily watched, just like they did when they were children.

Later on that day, Matt's phone rang. He picked up and after a long, quiet conversation, he nodded gravely.

"Yeah...I'm on it, Mello. Alright..."

He hung up and looked at Cassidy. She was sitting on the couch, innocently taking the game over for Matt.

"Yay! I defeated that gross plant thing! He's got nothing on me!" she cheered.

"Hey, Cassidy...Could you do me a favor and go...pick up this game I had reserved? Tomorrow's the deadline to pick it up and I'd hate to lose it"

"Hm? Okay!" She got up from the couch and slid her jacket on. "Oh! Why don't you come with me? It'll be more fun that way"

"I can't" he said quickly, making Cassidy jump a bit. "I can't. Mello gave me something to do"

"Oh...Okay, then. I'll be back in two shakes of a Yoshi's tail!"

Cassidy pecked Matt on the lips, but he pulled her in and gave her a passionate, romantic kiss on the lips. When he pulled back, Cassidy looked shocked.

"I-I'll always love you...I want you to remember that" he said quietly.

"I'll always love you too, Matty...Always and forever. Just like our promise, remember?"

Matt nodded. "I remember. The promise of forever is like that. Forever loving and devoted, right?"

Cassidy smiled cheerfully. "That's right. See you later, Matty!"

She smiled, then left.

Matt watched her leave, then put on his vest and grabbed a gun before leaving the apartment as well.

"...Goodbye, Cassidy..."

Cassidy went to the game store and picked up the game, just as Matt asked. The game looked like a lot of fun and she could barely wait to play it with him when she got back. She hopped onto her motorcycle and revved the engine, just when a car raced past in front of her at an insane speed.

"Hey...That looked like Matt's car..."

She took out her binoculars she carried in her bag and took a closer look at the car's driver.

"Oh my...That IS Matt!"

Suddenly, a mess of big black cars sped after his. Cassidy looked really worried. She swiftly put on her helmet and raced after them all.

'_Matt's in trouble!'_

She cursed herself for not volunteering to stay behind and help him. She made her motorcycle go as fast as it could, hoping to catch up to Matt, but she could not make it past the sea of black cars. There were simply too many of them.

Suddenly, they all stopped, which caused Cassidy to nearly crash into the car in front of her. She slowed down, but she did not stop; not until she reached Matt to make sure he was okay.

'Stupid Matt doing stupid things!' she shouted in her head. 'And I'm sure Mello had something to do with this!'

After a seemingly endless line of black cars, she finally reached the front. She stopped her bike, hopped down and took off her helmet, struck speechless.

"Oh, Matt..."

Matt had done the dumbest thing possible at the moment. He actually stepped out of the car to try to reason with the Kira worshipers. Had he not been paying attention when Cassidy came home all beaten up by them when they destroyed her disguise?

"Listen, I'm connected to Takada's kidnapper. You've probably got a lot to ask me. You aren't going to shoo-"

"HEY! OVER HERE! CATCH!!"

Everybody turned their attention to the direction the voice came from. Suddenly, a giant flash exploded from the center of the circle, blinding both the Kira worshipers and Matt. Before anybody could see what was going on, Cassidy grabbed Matt by his hair and roughly pulled him away from everybody before their sight returned to them. Matt did not realize it was Cassidy, so he put up a huge fight as she dragged him away.

"Hey! Ow! Don't hit me! I'm trying to save you, idiot" she hissed.

"W-Wha? Cassidy?! What are you-?"

Cassidy slapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him into a dark, empty alley.

"Quiet! We're not far enough away from them to talk normally yet" she whispered.

Matt mumbled angrily to himself and rubbed the back of his head. "Did you have to pull my hair, though? It hurts..."

"Sorry about that. I threw that bomb and was also a bit blinded by the flash, so I didn't know what part of you I was grabbing"

"It's alright. Good idea with the flash bomb. I thought I was a goner..."

"Honestly...I didn't even know it was a flash bomb" she said nervously.

"...What?"

"...I just sort of panicked and picked a bomb out of my bag. I didn't know it was a flash bomb. We sure were lucky, though, huh?" Cassidy smiled innocently.

"You mean you didn't know?! What if you chose a _bomb_ bomb?!"

"But I didn't! And what did I say about shouting like that? We have to be quiet!"

"Cassidy...That could have killed us!"

"Oh? Like what you were doing wasn't dangerous?! Idiot!" she snapped. "How could you do that to me?! What if you were killed?!"

"Cassidy, you're yelling"

Cassidy suddenly slapped him.

"Moron!" she snarled. "How could you do such a stupid thing?!"

"But Mello ne-"

"Shut up! How could you do that, Matt? You know what happened when the Kira worshipers caught me, so why did you just jump in there like that?!"

Matt was quiet.

"Matt...You knew that you had to do this, didn't you?"

Silence.

"...You did...Why did you keep me in the dark?"

"...I didn't want you to get hurt, Cassidy"

"But there had to be another way-"

"You know there was no other way; Not if we wanted to catch Kira!"

Cassidy was now the quiet one. She looked at the floor in shame. She let her feelings get in the way of the Kira case; a big mistake. She quietly cried and hugged him tightly.

"Matt...If you died...I would have died, too....My world would have ended..."

He hugged her back and fought back his tears. "I'm so sorry...I just wanted to protect you..."

She sniffled and wiped her tears away.

"Let's get out of here before they find us. I'm sure Mello has himself in another mess. I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another..."

"Wait...I have to know one thing before we go"

"What is it?"

"Why did you jump in like that? You could have been killed too and you know it. I left you behind for a reason; to keep you safe"

"...Because..." Cassidy fidgeted around nervously. "Because if you died...then I would have died, too...Matt, you're the most important person in my life...I don't think I would have been able to stand it if I saw them...hurt you... or even...worse..."

Matt was confused. "W-What?"

She sighed impatiently. "Don't you understand?! I-I love you, Matt!" she blurted out, blushing furiously.

Matt stared at her in shock.

Cassidy shook her head. "We don't have time for this right now! We have to-"

"There they are!" a man shouted.

"Let's go!"

She tossed another bomb, took Matt by the wrist, and raced down the alley. This bomb was an actual "bomb bomb", as Matt put it. It exploded once it hit the ground, sending the Kira worshipers flying backwards, instantly killing the man and several others that have gotten too close to the blast.

The alley turned out to be a dead end. This was not a problem for Cassidy, however. She instantly clung to the wall and climbed up to the roof by grabbing any lose brick or scrap of metal nailed to the wall to escape.

"Oh, like I can do that" Matt said sarcastically.

Cassidy looked over the edge and urged Matt to hurry up.

"Come on! They're coming! Climb up!"

She was right. A whole mob of worshipers was racing towards him, firing their guns into the darkness in hopes of killing their targets.

Matt looked around for anything that would help him climb up. Cassidy shouted down to him and lowered a rusty steel ladder down.

"I found this lying around up here! Use it!"

She made sure he had a good hold of the bottom and let it go. Matt stumbled a bit and when he caught his balance, he propped the ladder up against the wall.

"It's too short, Cassidy! It only reaches three fourths of the way!"

"Don't worry! Just get to the top and I'll handle the rest!"

Matt had no time to consider other options.

"I'm coming up!" he said, jumping onto the ladder and climbing as fast as he could.

Cassidy looked desperately down at him. She reached out her arms as low as she could, trying to grab onto him and pull him up to get him onto the roof quicker.

The mob caught up before he could reach the top and they fired everything they had at him. Thankfully, Cassidy snatched Matt up by his collar and pulled him onto the roof before they had the chance to hurt him. She pulled so hard, she fell onto her back and he fell on top of her.

"S-Sorry about that" Matt said, quickly rolling off of her and sitting on his knees.

"Don't worry about it...Thank goodness you're not heavy" Cassidy said, also sitting up and dusting herself off.

Matt stood up and held out a hand to help Cassidy up as well. "Come on. Let's get out of here"

Cassidy took his hand and rose to her feet.

"Just a minute"

She reached into her bag, took out a large hand grenade, and tossed it over the side of the building into the alleyway.

"MOVE!" Cassidy cried, pulling Matt along with her as she ran.

The alley exploded, tossing debris, dirt, concrete, and other various loose objects into the air. The Kira mob cried in anger and pain, livid that their prey was getting the better of them and escaping their grasp.

"That was my last grenade so we have no more tricks to help us escape. We have to move!" Cassidy said.

Matt was released from her grip and he ran along side her. Normally, he would not have been able to keep up with her, but with all the excitement and adrenaline, he could have run a marathon by her side.

"W-Where are we going?" Matt asked, panting. He inwardly cursed his smoking habit; the cause of his shortness of breath.

"My motorcycle isn't too far from here! We can take it to go save Mello! Knowing him, he's stuck in a bigger mess than we are!"

Matt was quiet. He knew Mello was in trouble, but was not sure they would get there in time to save him.

The couple jumped from rooftop to rooftop, going as fast as they could to lose the mob and run to safety. They soon reached the edge of a short building and stopped. Cassidy easily jumped down, bouncing on a colorful awning below and sliding down to safety. She looked up at Matt and waved.

"Jump!" she called out to him. "I'll get my bike so we can make our great escape!"

The red-head looked unsure. He realized he had no other choice if he wanted to live and gave it a leap of faith. He landed on the awning as well and bounced, but instead of sliding down, he bounced a little too high and tumbled to the ground, landing on his back. Cassidy could not help but laugh.

"You and your acrobatics" Matt mumbled.

When he looked up, Cassidy was on her motorcycle and she was holding her hand out for him to take.

"Now it's my turn to rescue you" she said softly.

Matt smiled, took her hand, and hopped onto the bike behind her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and made sure he had a good hold of her when he suddenly gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, too" he whispered into her ear.

Cassidy blushed, turning a deep crimson color and Matt leaned against her.

"We should get going" he said. "I think I hear them coming"

She revved the engine and the couple sped off into the distance, away from the dangers of the murderous Kira worshipers and off to save their best friend Mello, unaware of the horrific, burning sight that awaits them.


	17. Chapter 17: Epilogue

**"Always and Forever" : Epilogue**

"Here, mommy?"

"No, no, sweetie. That is an 'L'. We are looking for some one with a name just like yours"

"A name that begins with 'M'?"

Cassidy nodded and smiled sweetly.

The small, four-year old boy ran playfully across the grass, weaving around tombstones and waving a bouquet of fragrant, colorful flowers in his tiny hand. The morning sunlight made his clear emerald eyes glisten and the wind gently brushed through his silky black locks. The little pair of silver and blue goggles bounced around his neck and on his chest as he ran from tombstone to tombstone in search of a name like his own.

"I found it! I found it!" the child said proudly, jumping up and down in excitement.

Matt, who was walking alongside Cassidy and holding her hand, smiled and picked up the small child. The little boy clung to Matt and looked down curiously at a dark grey tombstone.

"Why does he have my name, daddy?" the boy asked. "Who is he?"

"He is your uncle" Matt answered. "And you have his name because he was mommy and daddy's best friend"

The boy was confused. "He is my uncle? Then why is he in the ground like that? Uncle Soubi isn't in the ground"

Cassidy took the boy from Matt and set him on the ground. "He's in the ground because...because he wanted to watch over you from heaven. He wants to protect you...and guide you...and just...be your guardian angel" she said softly, fighting to hold back her tears.

Matt put an arm around Cassidy and hugged her tightly. The boy looked worried and tugged at Cassidy's pants.

"I'm sorry, mommy! Please don't cry!" he said, beginning to cry himself.

"Those flowers are for your uncle. I bet if you gave them to him, he would be very happy" Matt said.

The boy waddled over to the grave and looked around curiously, wondering how he was going to give flowers to somebody who was not there. After a lot of thought, he decided to place them at the base of the tombstone.

"Here you go, uncle" he said innocently.

He turned around and smiled at his parents.

Cassidy crouched down onto the ground and held her arms open for a hug.

"Come here to mommy, Mihael!"

The boy ran to his mother with a big smile and hugged her tightly. Cassidy laughed and cuddled her son.

"He has your smile" Matt said, crouching down to hug them both.

"And he has your devilish good looks" Cassidy said..

Suddenly, Matt's cell phone rang. He stood up and answered it quickly.

"Hey, Cassidy. Near needs us for something. We have to go"

Cassidy picked her son up as she stood and pouted. "I wanted to stay a little longer..."

Mihael gasped. "Uncle Near? Can I come?? Please! I want to play with him!" He flailed excitedly in his mothers' arms.

"No!" Matt and Cassidy said in unison.

The little boy began to sniffle and cry.

"I'm sorry, sweetie" Cassidy cooed, trying to comfort Mihael. "You can't go. You get to stay with daddy and play all those awesome video games with him while mommy does some boring ol' field work. Doesn't that sound fun? And you know daddy lets you eat those snacks I don't let you eat while I'm away!"

Cassidy shot Matt a playful glare and Matt smiled back innocently.

Mihael whimpered and leaned his head against his mother's shoulder. "I wanted to play with Uncle Near. He always has the coolest toys..."

Matt snickered. "You just want to knock his card city down again, don't you?"

"Yes" the boy said without hesitating.

The red-head laughed and ruffled his son's hair. "You would have made your uncle proud"

Cassidy laughed. "I would never forget the look on his face. I think that was the first time I have ever seen him show an emotion. His angry face is so scary! And it was also funny to see a grown man fight with a toddler over a transformer toy afterwards"

Matt looked up, touched his head, and frowned. "That's funny...It was bright and sunny a few minutes ago, but it's beginning to rain now... We should get moving before we get wet"

Just as they were about to leave, Cassidy stopped and gasped. "Oh! I almost forgot"

She took a large dark chocolate bar out of her pocket and went to set it on the ground, earning a pout from Mihael.

"I thought that was for me" he whined.

Matt took the bar from Cassidy, broke it in half, and gave a piece to Mihael who instantly took a huge bite out of it and made loud crunching noises.

Cassidy took the other half back and placed it on the ground beside the flowers.

Mihael finished his chocolate and looked longingly at the piece on the ground.

"That's enough for one day, my little chocolate monster. Now let's go before the rain really picks up"

The trio left the cemetery, quietly absorbed in their own thoughts. Mihael yawned and began to fall asleep in his mother's arms. Cassidy cradled him and began to softly hum a lullaby. Matt took Cassidy's hand, took one last glance at the cemetery and looked proudly at his son.

'Mihael is a lot like you, Mello. I wish you could have met him...'

Cassidy leaned up and kissed Matt on the cheek.

"I love you, Matt" she said softly.

Matt blushed and kissed her back. "I love you too, Cassidy"

She giggled. "You'll love me always?"

He smirked and poked her nose. "I'll love you forever"

She smiled and leaned against his shoulder and the couple walked off together in happiness.

* * *

A/N: First off, I know I can't apologize enough for taking so long with putting these final chapters up. I'm so sorry I took forever to post these chapters. Life got totally in the way and I haven't updated much of anything for a very, very long time. College is really busy! There's so much work and just when you think you're done, you're not. There's more work to be done for another class, plus midterms and finals hit you like a brick wall. Time moves so fast. And when you finally get a day or two off, what happens? You catch up on all of the sleep you miss because of the work. It's....terrible, but I'm hanging in there. Anyway, I finally got a small break and remembered that I still had to add the final alternate chapter plus the epilogue. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks to all of my subscribers, reviewers, and readers! Thank you all so much for reading! I'm so grateful!


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